2025 North West 200
SuperTwin Race One
Racing got underway at the North West 200 on Saturday morning with the Supertwins. The sun shone down on the throngs of eager spectators as the bikes took to the circuit. This was the only class not to have raced yet at the 2025 edition of the event, and those perched trackside were keen to see the little twins do battle. Out of all the categories, this is the one class that seems a little different to the rest and might Mthrow up a winner that wouldn’t feature in the other races.
Adam McLean and evergreen 62-year-old star Jeremy McWilliams are great examples of this, and as the opening contest began, they were right in the hunt. Of course, pre-race favourite Richard Cooper and last year’s double winner Peter Hickman were also involved, but it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top as the lead riders slugged it out on the run to Portrush on lap 1.
Cooper began to pull the pin but Hicky and McLean (both on Yamahas) set after the Jack Reid car sales Kawasaki and were soon on the back of him. A stiff breeze was affecting top speeds and McWilliams would later report that it was tough making progress along the straights on his own, once he lost the tow of the rest.
Suddenly Hickman was missing and McLean hit the front and began a battle with Cooper in lap three. McLean was looking very racey but his diminutive rival was all over the back of him and there was little chance of getting away.
In the end, ‘Coops’ made his move on the final circuit and took the win by 0.2s. Making it 5 wins out of 7 in the class over the past 4 years. McLean was left to wonder what might have been, but it was a stirring performance from the Tobermore rider never-the-less.
Last year’s double winner, Peter Hickman’s no. 1 Yamaha had developed a technical issue and was parked up for the rest of the day.
Cooper described how he had ‘learned from the boss’ (Peter Hickman) 12 months previous and sat in behind McLean before pulling the pin on the last lap once the time was right. It was a reenactment of the treatment Hicky had dished out to him in 2024.
Jeremy McWilliams amazingly scored yet another podium, eight-seconds off the front. And a titanic battle for 4th raged further back involving ‘Micko’ Sweeney, Barry Furber, AJ Venter and Michael Rutter. In the end, they finished in that order.
Unfortunately, Jamie Coward (who was gaining on that group as they squabbled amongst themselves) had a major off at the final corner and received a great deal of medical attention on the road-side before being taken to hospital. While Coward’s injuries are not thought to be serious, he is most likely out of the IOM TT in just a few weeks time. A major blow as he was armed with a factory supported Triumph in Supersport and the ex-Josh Brookes BMW for the 1000cc races.
SuperTwin Race One Results
SuperTwin Race Two
The second SuperTwin race took place right before the final Superbike race later in the day. By that stage there were a few empty spaces on the grid. Coward was obviously missing, as was Hickman. ‘Jezza’ McWilliams was also not present after a crash at Mill Road in the earlier supersport race left him in pain.
However, Cooper and McLean were raring to go and they immediately picked up where they left off in the opening race of the day. Paul Jordan made a slow start but began to make amends on the opening run to Coleraine and worked hard to make it a three way dice for the win.
McLean and Cooper however, were setting a tremendous pace and Jordan had to ride the race of his life to get to them.
Once he did, Cooper attempted to make a break for it, but McLean was having none of it and pulled alongside him at top speed over Black’s bridge- a spectacular sight!
McLean and Jordan were Yamaha mounted with Cooper outnumbered on his Kawasaki. Cooper tried to break again but as the dull drone of the bikes dropped into Portrush on lap 3 it was McLean who was in control.
By this stage Jordan was falling back and had seemingly outdone himself in the effort it had taken to catch the lead pair.
But suddenly, McLean went down as he exited Juniper chicane, crashing out of the lead of the race. Cooper was just inches from his back wheel and with nowhere to go, he also hit the floor.
Jordan couldn’t believe his fortune and was leading the race. The Magherafelt man completed the final circuit all on his own to bring the Jackson racing Aprilia home nine-seconds clear of Michael Sweeney to record his first international win- a milestone achievement and a ‘child hood dream’.
Paul Jordan
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a win. And bloody hell it feels good. I’ve had a hard winter and trained hard… to repay the boys is amazing!”
Jordan has been around the block and this win has been a long time coming. He started out his career in BSB support classes many years ago, riding as team mate to the likes of Bradley Smith, John McPhee and Sam Lowes and was a race winner in 125cc. Budget reasons meant that he took a different direction and became a road racer. This victory is a culmination of many years of hard work and is richly deserved.
Michael Sweeney was very emotional with his runner-up finish also. He was seriously injured in this race 2 years ago and has also put in many hours to get back to this level.
A titanic battle between South African AJ Ventor and Baz Furber raged throughout the race for what eventually became 3rd and in the end Furber just got the nod to record one of the finest results of his career. Unaware that he had finished in 3rd, Furber had to be retrieved from the paddock to attend the podium celebrations.
While there’s no doubt that these three made up an unusual podium, it was an immensely popular one.
