Here’s what happened at the 2026 North West 200

BSB racer Storm Stacey took the 2026 North West 200 by storm (no pun intended), as he marked his rookie appearance at the event with two incredible victories. 

The first of those came in the only Superstock race that was held over the course of the event, as Stacey got the better of 33-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop on the final lap. 

The race had initially been red flagged on lap two after Richard Cooper’s fall. But when the race restarted, Stacey, who was the early leader, remained the rider to beat as he eventually won by 1.2 seconds over Dunlop, with both men riding a BMW M1000 RR.

In the second and final superbike race of the event, Stacey completed his maiden NW200 double by getting the better of Honda’s Dean Harrison by just over six tenths of a second. 

Making his win even more impressive was the fact that Stacey rode different machinery in the superbike class, as he jumped aboard his Bathams AJN Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R.

But while Stacey stole most of the headlines for his rookie performance, there were other very impressive results, none of which were more surprising than Jeremy McWilliams winning race two in the Supertwin/Sportbike class at 62 years of age. 

McWilliams, who finished second to Peter Hickman in the first Supertwin/Sportbike race at the event, became the first person aged 60 years or older to win a race at the North West 200.  

Speaking to BBC NI after his win, McWilliams said: 

“I’ve been waiting for that one for a wee while. I couldn’t be more happy, I’ve been chasing another win for a while and [everyone] keeps telling me ‘the older you get, it’s not going to come’. So, this is for all you guys who believed in me.”

Away from the impressive results achieved by the likes of Stacey and McWilliams, one of road racing’s biggest names was unable to take part after being forced to miss the event.

A treble winner at the North West 200 in each of the last two years, Davey Todd was ruled out of the event on medical concerns, following on from his Daytona 200 qualifying crash in March where he suffered fractures in both legs, as well as numerous other injuries. 

"Following his injuries at Daytona in March, Davey Todd underwent a medical examination by the Chief Medical Officer at the 2026 Briggs Equipment North West 200 today” (5 May), said a statement from organisers of the NW200. 

"Unfortunately, because of his injuries, Davey was found to be unfit to take part in the North West 200.” Race director Mervyn Whyte added: "We are very disappointed that Davey [Todd] will not be on the grid this year. 

“He has enjoyed a lot of success at the North West and [has] a huge following who will be equally disappointed. We would all have loved to have seen him out there racing but safety is paramount."

However, Todd was left confused by the decision not to let him race, telling BBC NI:

“I arrived here to the North West to be told that they weren’t actually going to do a medical test for me, the answer was just ‘no, I’m not riding’.

“I don’t really understand the basis of it right now, I’ve had a conversation with the organisers and they can’t overrule the Chief Medical Officer’s decision.”

Missing the North West 200 also puts his participation at the 2026 TT at risk, although Todd remains hopeful of racing at the Isle of Man later this month.

Finally, the 2026 North West 200 was heavily impacted by delays, one of which was caused by a crash during a qualifying session for the Superbike class. Sadly, the incident led to the death of 48-year-old Czech rider Kamil Holan, who passed away on Thursday, 7 May, at 15:20pm.

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