Richard Cooper set the fastest average lap speeds in both the Superbike and Supersport qualifying sessions at a weather-affected first qualifying session for the North West 200 on Wednesday.
The 43-year-old adapted to the changeable conditions best to top the timesheets on a day of sunshine and showers on the Triangle circuit on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
Riding the SMS/Nicholl Oils BMW that he acquired in a last-minute deal before the event, Cooper recorded a speed of 110.843mph to finish quickest in the premier Superbike class.
To emphasise the testing nature of the track conditions, the Nottingham rider’s lap time of four minutes 51.332 seconds was almost 35 seconds slower than the class lap record of 125.779 set by Glenn Irwin on his most recent appearance in 2024.
“I managed to get a couple of laps in the relative dry. The bike is new for me so every lap is important,” said Cooper after the hour-long session.
Northern Ireland rider Paul Jordan was second on the Superbike leaderboard at 109.859, followed by Honda Racing’s Dean Harrison with 109.626.
Irwin, Peter Hickman and Mike Browne rounded out the top six leaderboard.
Seven-time North West winner Cooper followed that by registering the quickest speed in the Supersport category on his next generation Yamaha R9 at 111.016mph, with a time of four minutes and 50.877 seconds.
He has two Supersport victories to his name at the meeting and has been on the podium in the past six editions of the middleweight class.
Jeremy McWilliams was second fastest on his CD Racing Kawasaki, with the 62-year-old using all his experience to occupy a provisional front row spot before Thursday’s second qualifying session.
The Belfast-born racer secured a ride on that machine just days before the meeting.
Harrison was next on 109.214mph, followed by Hickman, Alastair Seeley and Englishman Ian Hutchinson.
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Brookes and McWilliams grab provisional poles
High-profile newcomer Storm Stacey led the Superstock speeds for much of their slightly curtailed session but ultimately ended up third on the leaderboard with 107.870mph.
Australian Josh Brookes came out on top on 109.411, with Harrison again to the fore in second place at 108.814.
John McGuinness, Dominic Herbertson and Hickman were next in the order.
Both Brookes and Harrison are chasing their first-ever wins at the North West.
McWilliams was 7.7 seconds faster than his nearest rival in producing the best speed of the Supertwins/Sportbike session on 105.163mph on drying roads on his Yamaha R7.
Jordan, winner of last year’s second Supertwins event, was his closest challenger at 102.590, with Seeley third fastest at 101.502, both riding Aprilias.
Record 29-time winner Seeley is making his first appearance in the Supertwins category.
Michael Dunlop endured a disappointing day as he failed to feature in the upper echelons of the Superbike leaderboard and has yet to qualify after making a last-minute decision to switch from his Ducati V4 to a Honda Fireblade in the Superbike class.
The Ballymoney rider was 12th in the Supersports and back in 25th position in the Superstock outing.
Wednesday qualifying times
Superbikes – 1 Richard Cooper (BMW) 110.843mph; 2 Paul Jordan (Honda) 109.859; 3 Dean Harrison (Honda) 109.626; 4 Glenn Irwin (Ducati) 109.580; 5 Peter Hickman (BMW) 109.345; 6 Mike Browne (Honda) 108.469
Supersport – 1 Richard Cooper (Yamaha) 111.016mph; 2 Jeremy McWilliams (Kawasaki) 110.054; 3 Dean Harrison (Honda) 109.214; 4 Peter Hickman (Triumph) 109.026; 5 Alastair Seeley (Ducati) 108.997; 6 Ian Hutchinson (Ducati) 108.194
Superstocks – 1 Josh Brookes (Honda); 2 Dean Harrison (Honda) 108.814mph; 3 Storm Stacey (BMW) 107.870; 4 John McGuinness (Honda) 107.030; 5 Dominic Herbertson (BMW) 107.020; 6 Peter Hickman (BMW) 106.815
Supertwins – 1 Jeremy McWilliams (Yamaha) 105.163mph; 2 Paul Jordan (Aprilia) 102.590; 3 Alastair Seeley (Aprilia) 101.502; 4 Christian Elkin (Aprilia) 100.738; 5 Jamie Coward (Paton) 100.231; 6 Mauro Poncini (Aprilia) 99.971