North West 200 2026: practice starts Wednesday on the Triangle circuit
Practice kicks off on Wednesday morning on the famous Triangle circuit. The NW200 is back, and it doesn’t get much bigger than this.
If you’ve never stood roadside at the North West 200, it’s hard to explain what 200mph looks like from three feet away. Not a number on a screen. Not a slow-motion replay. The real thing, at full noise, past your nose, gone before your brain has processed it. That’s what kicks off this week on the north coast of Northern Ireland, and it’s why riders and fans make the journey from across these islands and beyond every single May.
The 2026 Briggs Equipment North West 200 runs from Monday 4th to Saturday 9th May, with the first practice sessions getting underway on the famous 8.9-mile Triangle circuit on Wednesday morning. Roads close from 9am, with newcomers getting their first proper taste of Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine in the opening session before the big classes follow. Thursday brings another full morning of practice, then the roads close again from 4.45pm as the evening races get going. Saturday is the main event – roads shut from 9am through to 7pm, with the first race off the line at 10am.
The riders to watch
Michael Dunlop arrives at the Triangle in the kind of form that makes rivals nervous. He swept to a four-timer at the Cookstown 100 and there’s no obvious reason to think he’ll be any less dominant here. He’s the benchmark.
Glenn Irwin, Peter Hickman and the evergreen Alastair Seeley, who holds the outright NW200 wins record at 29, are all in the mix, as is Davey Todd, fitness permitting. This is exactly the kind of entry list that makes the NW200 appointment viewing.
The story that’s caught most eyes in the build-up, though, is Storm Stacey. The 22-year-old Staffordshire rider is making his road racing debut here under Michael Rutter’s Bathams AJN Racing banner, aboard a V4 Ducati in the Superbike class. Rutter, who knows a thing or two about the Triangle having won there fourteen times, is mentoring Stacey and clearly rates him highly. There’s also Caomhan Canny, the Donegal rider who won the 2025 Senior Manx Grand Prix by half a second and brings his Aprilia north for what is genuinely his local race. Both are ones to watch in the newcomer bibs.
What is the NW200?
First held in 1929, the NW200 is Ireland’s largest outdoor sporting event. It regularly pulls crowds north of 150,000 across race week. Unlike the Isle of Man TT, which runs as a time trial, the NW200 is wheel-to-wheel racing on closed public roads, the same roads that are open to traffic every other week of the year. The speeds are real. The barriers are real. The skill required to race here is unlike anything demanded of a circuit racer.
That’s what makes it, for a lot of riders and fans, the purest thing in the sport.
How to watch the NW200
BBC Northern Ireland has live coverage of both race days, with all races also available on BBC iPlayer. BBC Radio Ulster carries live commentary, and the NW200 website has live timing throughout practice and racing. If you’re going, and a lot of you are, the official NW200 WhatsApp channel and social feeds are the fastest way to get updates on any schedule changes.
Practice starts Wednesday. Racing starts Thursday evening. The north coast is the only place to be this week.
Full schedule:
Wednesday 6 May – Practice (roads closed 9am–3pm)
Thursday 7 May – Practice (roads closed 9am–3pm), Evening Racing (roads closed 4.45pm–9pm)
Saturday 9 May – Racing (roads closed 9am–7pm, first race 10am)
