NW200: Few could have imagined how it would grow

Joey and Robert Dunlop battle it out at the North West 200 in 1990. PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON

The North West 200 was originally organised by The Derry and District Motor Club, and those involved in 1929 would probably not have believed how the event would flourish.

The race, held over a triangle cricuit in the Coleraine, Portrush and Porstewart area on the North coast has become Ireland’s largest sporting event.

The name of the event comes from its setting, reflecting the original intended location on a public roads course in the North West of Ireland and the ‘200’ in the title simply indicates that the event was originally run over a distance of 200 miles.

Since 1964 the North West 200 was handed over to the Coleraine and District Motor Club who continue to organise the event.

Obviously there is some remarkable history attached to 85 years of racing - although during World War II racing did not take place - and it is impossible to do it justice in these columns.

But some of the highlights are included here.

The first race in 1929 saw 35 riders entered. However, not all entrants made it to the start line - four were missing.

One rider, J McKane from the nearby village of Dervock was thrown from his machine after colliding with a car during practice the previous day and was recovering in hospital.

As the Union Jack and Irish Tricolour - flown in honour of the six competitors from Eire, fluttered in the southerly breeze over the expectant gathering, the writer of the Belfast News Letter edition of April 22, 1929, commented that: ‘The scene at the start resembled a miniature Grand Prix.’