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‘Flying Scotsman’ Keith Amor gives BMW S 1000 RR its first NW200 win

21/05/2010

While BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus were battling in Kyalami, South Africa, against their fellow World Superbike racers, another top-level motorcycle event was taking place – the International North West 200 – where Scottish rider Keith Amor scored a stunning victory in the Superstock race on a BMW S 1000 RR.

The North West 200 is a motorcycle racing festival held each May in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, close to the spectacular Giant’s Causeway. It is traditionally seen as a “warm-up” event for the Isle of Man TT Races, which are held in the first week of June. The ‘Triangle’ course is made up of public roads running between the three seaside towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush, and is one of the fastest in the world, with top speeds up to 204 mph (328 km/h) recorded through the speed trap.

The event attracts more than 150,000 road racing enthusiasts, who make the annual pilgrimage to experience the close racing on an 8.970-mile (14.436-km) circuit as well as the unique atmosphere and numerous tourist attractions. The roads that the riders race on actually pass through the streets of Portrush and Portstewart, where bales of hay are used to protect racers from such hazards as street signs, lamp posts and telegraph poles.

Like the TT, the North West 200 truly is a racing event only for the bravest of riders, many of whom contest the Superbike, Superstock, Supersport and in some cases even the 125cc races on a variety of different machinery. Thirty-eight-year-old Amor from Falkirk in central Scotland entered five races in total, but saved his best performance for the Superstock race, in which he rode a BMW S 1000 RR to victory for the WA Corless/Jackson Racing team – his first ever International road race win and the first on public roads for the S 1000 RR.

Having qualified on the front row, Keith seized the lead on the opening lap but there was nothing between him and riders Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki), Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) and Ian Hutchinson (Honda), who were all pushing for the lead. Farquhar took over at the front on the third lap but Keith immediately fought back and re-took the lead a lap later. All four riders were ‘neck and neck’ on the final lap but Keith resisted all challenges and held on by 0.169 seconds for a superb debut International road race win.

At the chequered flag Amor had pipped Hutchinson, with Farquhar four-tenths back in third, just in front of Seeley – who had won this race for the past two years. The fastest lap went to S 1000 RR rider Michael Rutter at a speed of 119.588mph (192.458 km/h), who finished in fifth place on the RidersMotorcycles.com BMW. Amor was timed at 187 mph (300 km/h) through the speed trap, and posted a best average lap speed of 118.521 mph (190.741 km/h) around the 8.97-mile circuit.

Speaking at the end of the day, a highly satisfied Keith said: "I'm absolutely over the moon to have taken my first International road race win. After two fourth places in the earlier races I was determined to get a podium. It was a real battle and I just had a slight top speed advantage, so it was a matter of keeping calm and getting the job done. It’s brilliant as this team was set up at the 11th-hour and it is the best possible preparation I could have had for the TT.

“I had to work really hard in the Superstock race and I knew the other riders were right behind me throughout, but the S 1000 RR is a missile and with the Dunlop tyres, it's a fantastic package. This was my first race of the year and I've had no testing, so to come away with these results is testament to everyone connected to the team and all their hard work has paid off."

Keith also rode a BMW S 1000 RR in the event’s two ‘Superbike’ races, finishing in fourth and sixth places respectively (recording 195mph (313.8 km/h) through the speed trap) as well as finishing second and fourth in the day’s two Supersport events – a superb outing, all the more remarkable as his previous best finish at the North West 200 was third position in last season’s Superstock race. He will now start preparations for his main event of the year, the Isle of Man TT races, where practice begins on Saturday 29 May.