2025 North West 200
This year’s North West 200 saw two Aussies and a Kiwi take part. Two-time BSB champion, Josh Brookes made his return after missing the event in 2024. David Johnson was back on the grid on the Lee Hardy racing Kawasaki ZX-10R for a second year in succession, and New Zealand’s Mitch Rees made his Northern Hemisphere roads debut riding for the road-racing institution that is Milenco by Padgett’s racing.
All three of the antipodean contingent gave a good account of themselves, although the week wasn’t without its hitches.
Josh Brookes
Josh Brookes struggled for set-up all week on the Jackson racing Honda Fireblade but in the end was able to make changes that gave him some hope before the TT.
Brookes’ spirit was fairly crushed after practice as he was astonished by how different the big Honda behaved on the roads compared to the BSB tracks he has been riding at in the UK so far this year. The Fireblade was nervous and unsettled over the humps and bumps of the roads circuit, and the 42-year-old described how he had to sit up on top of the bike and wrestle with the handlebars for much of the lap.
“We had some time to prepare a bike at Oulton Park for Superstock,” he said. “I was immediately comfortable with the bike and even said to the guys put that in the truck and wheel it out and we’ll be ready to go. But (once we got here) I was in pure disbelief at how far away the bike felt on the road. I found it really difficult, some of the changes we made even made the bike worse.”
A 19th place finish in the opening Superbike race on Thursday night left Josh downhearted. And he felt that that negativity carried over into the Supersport race, affecting his performance. He bagged a lonely 12th place finish in that one on the CBR600RR but felt that the bike was capable of better. “The negative energy carried over and I didn’t really get stuck in,” he admitted.
However, after the warm-up lap of the Superstock race, he excitedly shouted to his Jackson racing mechanic, “what have you done, what have you changed?” For the first time that week the bike suddenly felt rideable.
With that, ‘Bad boy’ Brookes’ outlook changed and he fought his way to 7th on the stocker that evening and for the first time all week, Josh was ‘racing’ rather than simply trying to survive the bike’s nervous behaviour.
Confident that the breakthrough made would transfer over onto the full-fat Superbike also, Saturday morning saw Josh feel like a ‘new person’.
The day began with a steady top-ten ride to ninth in the opening Superbike encounter. He followed that up with another 7th in the day’s only Supersport race; an improvement of five positions on his Thursday evening showing.
Brookes was challenging the lead group in the Stock race before some issues caused him to drop back. In the end, 11th place wasn’t a true reflection of the pace he had… but he made amends for that in the blue riband NW 200 Superbike race, dicing with Honda racing’s John McGuinness for much of it before Luca Gottardi crashed spectacularly at Quarry Hill, bringing out the red flags.
In the end the Aussie got the nod for 5th ahead of McPint in the final standings. It later transpired that a large stone had kicked up from the Jackon racing Fireblade’s back wheel on the final lap and struck McGuinness’ arm with some force, leaving a mighty bruise on the legend from Morecambe….
“Thanks Josh Brookes – last lap of the meeting!!! That hurt!” JM130 would later post on social media along with a photo of the large welt.
All-in-all it was a difficult week for the New South Wales man, but he came away with something to build on.
“It’s still not in the range it needs to be and I still feel like I’ve got one hand tied behind my back,” he said once racing was over. “We changed a combination of things, we changed suspension, we changed electronics and we worked with the tyres… we did lots of little things. I’m trying to follow my instincts to speed up the process. A lot of the problems feel like they’re in the front of the bike but I think that it’s stemming from the rear. And the direction we’ve went in has definitely helped.”
Brookes will be hoping for some more breakthroughs before lining up on the Glencrutchery Road on the Isle of Man in three weeks’ time.
Davo Johnson
The other Aussie in the race, Davo Johnson flew under the radar somewhat at the event, concentrating on the set up on his Platinum racing Kawasaki UK bike. However, Davo managed a solid 10th in the final Superbike race – his best result of the week. But you got the impression from talking to the Adelaide man that racing at the North West was a means to an end and that he was keen to simply get through it and back to the TT.
“It’s one of those for me where it’s sorta debatable whether I enjoy it,” he laughed. “We were working on the Kawasaki to get it better and better and towards the end we got it somewhere near.”
“It’s all about getting the bike right and looking forward to the TT,” he continued. “Pretty happy with my lap times in that last one. We got into the 28s which is nothing on the leaders but pretty good for where I was, fighting with Conor (Cummins) and similar lap times to John (McGuinness). So, we move forward and carry on to the main event!”
Johnson crashed out spectacularly of the Superbike race at last year’s TT and was extremely fortunate to walk away. The bike got into a vicious tank-slapper at the fast and furious Conker Trees section and Davo was lucky after jumping ship to travel up the middle of the road and not hit anything solid.
That crash (which he says he is, ‘now mentally over’) was caused by a failed steering damper and the team have put measures in place to ensure that it doesn’t reoccur this time around.
Johnson will also campaign the CD Racing 636 Kawasaki in Supersort that Alastair Seeley raced at the North West, meaning the South Australian will race for Team Green in all classes at the TT.
Mitch Rees
New Zealand’s Mitch Rees had a really tough start to the week when his great friend and fellow Kiwi, Shane Richardson, tragically lost his life along with Owen Jenner at Oulton Park on the Monday of NW 200 race week.
Rees bravely made the decision to race on, stating that he believed is friend would want him to “keep living and taking opportunities.”
It’s fair to say the debutant did his countryman proud with an impressive showing.
There is a rich history of Kiwi riders at the North West, dating back 50 years to when the likes of John Woodley and Stu Avant tackled the triangle course.
The last rider from the ‘Land of the long white cloud’ to race here was the legendary Bruce Anstey a number of years ago. Of course, Anstey’s final seasons were spent racing for the famous Padgett’s team and that is who Rees lined up on the grid for this year.
Rees was immediately competitive in qualifying, but unfortunately a practice crash between Metropole and Church meant that he took no part in the Thursday races. “I was gutted on Thursday, it was my mistake… I was really enjoying riding and it was a bit of a setback,” he said.
However, the Padgett’s boys were quick to get the Fireblade put back together and for Saturday’s main day of racing, Rees was good to go.
At the close of business, Mitch had recorded 15th in the opening Superbike race, a 13th in the Stock race and finished off with 11th in the final NW 200 Superbike contest- the blue riband main event on the schedule.
He had just the Superstock bike at his disposal for all three races and had to start from the ‘2nd wave’ in all of them because of his practice shenanigans. That meant fighting through slower riders from the ‘1st wave’ and having his result calculated on corrected time. So, it was tough enough for a first attempt, but the ex- ASBK rider got through it and showed great promise for the future.
When I asked him what his thoughts on his first NW 200 was, he replied with a grin, “Wild!”
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for me,” he explained. “Obviously had a little bit of an off on Thursday. Fortunately, the bike got fixed and I’m alright and I managed to get some more laps in today. I had a good time and really enjoyed it to be fair,” he continued. “I literally came here to have fun and I had fun so I’m stoked! It was really enjoyable and something completely different“.
TT up next!
Like Brookes and Johnson, Mitch now moves onto the TT. That will be something ‘completely different’ again and we wish him all the very best for his first ever attempt at the 37 ¾ mile Mountain course. With Padgett’s he couldn’t ask for a more experienced team to make his learning experience a smooth one. And you can be sure that his friend and teammate, Davey Todd will be ready with advice and support throughout the fortnight.
