This week features the start of the 2025 international road racing season with the North West 200 in Northern Ireland - and it means that we’ll finally get to see the top names go head-to-head against each other for the first time since last June’s Isle of Man TT, albeit at a very different race.
A mass start event rather than a time trial like the TT, the historic race approaching its centenary in 2029, runs on the 8.9-mile triangle circuit snaking along Northern Ireland’s beautiful north coast.
With two long straights, it’s more akin to Moto3 than the TT, with incredibly high speed slipstreaming battles routinely seeing speeds topping 200 mph as riders dice for position before entering the final third of the track along the seaside section.
And while that sort of close racing might in theory suit those riders that are routinely racing on circuits like team-mates Peter Hickman and Davey Todd, fresh from last weekend’s opening round of the British Superbike championship at Oulton Park, the very different riding style needed for road racing means that you can’t rule out the discipline specialists like local hero Michael Dunlop.
We’ve not seen road racing’s current big three on track together since the final race of last year’s TT, when Hickman unexpectedly crashed out of the lead of the Senior TT and Dunlop failed to finish due to a technical problem, handing Todd a clear run to the top step of the podium.
The road to this weekend’s race hasn’t exactly been plain sailing for Hickman and his new team-mate (and, indeed, team co-owner) Todd, though. Both were set to ride for the FHO Racing BMW team, but that squad’s collapse meant that they were forced to set up on their own. And while the new 8Ten Racing team has come together in good time, they're still very much on the back foot in terms of testing time as the NW200 kicks off.
Dunlop, on the other hand, has perhaps had more seat time than ever before as he heads into his home race. Racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours last month on a BMW S1000RR, it’s given him a chance to adapt to the machine as he switches from the Honda he won last year’s Superbike TT on to the German machine.
However, with Todd in particular right in contention in all classes 12 months ago, he's hoping that he can nonetheless carry his form forward to this week's event.
"If there is one part unknown, there is another part that is very familiar.’ he explained of his new team structure.
"The team may be new but the personnel are the same with Darren Jones as team manager, my crew chief, Stuart Johnston and Mike Barrett as mechanic. It's a case now of just getting the parts together and we are already 99% of the way there.
"I know there is a certain level of expectation now on me at the North West, but that expectation is there because I have put it there. I've been battling for NW200 wins every year since 2022 and I love it round here because it suits my style."
Behind those three, of course, there’s a whole host of spoilers looking to insert themselves into the podium fight. Chief among them will be another local racer, Alastair Seeley.
The 2011 British Supersport champion comes out of retirement for another crack at the only road race he’s ever competed at - and, with fellow local and Seeley’s fierce rival Glenn Irwin stepping back to concentrate on his BSB title campaign in 2025, it might well present Seeley with a chance to grow his record tally of 29 wins.
Practice for the NW2000 gets underway on Wednesday, delayed a day from the usual Tuesday slot due to the bank holiday BSB date at Oulton Park, with a supersport, superstock and superbike race on Thursday evening and Saturday’s full six-race schedule.
All the NW200 action is available live and free worldwide on the BBC Sport website.
