Â鶹Éç

What a day that was! Thankfully we got one race in and a local win, with the wee wizard from Carrick taking his total of North West wins to five with his Supersport victory. What a scintillating race it was. It will make fabulous vieiwing in the Â鶹Éç NW200 highlights programme on Monday night.

Mervyn Whyte and his team went over and above the call of duty to try and keep the race action going. There will be nobody more disappointed that all the races didn't run than Mervyn. Maybe if Ryan Farquhar's bike had blown up somewhere else on the track in the Superbike race other than on the recently laid tarmac things could have continued. But as it was every time they thought they had the oil cleaned up, it just kept seeping back through. Then the event finally succumbed to the inevitable, when they were unable make the circuit safe enough to continue.

Full respect to Michael Rutter who stuck to his guns and pulled off the grid whenever they wouldn't hold back the first running of the Superbike race. He told me that it wasn't due to a lack of grip and that the surface was ok, but the problem was that when the riders got caught up in the traffic the spray coming up off other bikes' tyres made it impossible to see properly. Micahel would have preferred the start of the race to be held back until more of the surface water had been cleared, but as it was it wouldn't have made any difference due to the oil seeping onto the circuit.

Ultimately, the most important thing is everybody is heading home safe from what action we have had today and the good news is that Stuart Easton is recovering well in hospital and we all send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I felt really sorry for the riders today. I know from when I used to race that you wake up on race day morning full of nerves and anxiety and you just want to be out on the bike and get the action underway. However, today with all the delays everything was strung out for the riders. Having a few aborted attempts at getting the racing underway only creates more tension and nervousness for riders until it comes to a point when you have been hanging around for so long that it then becomes a problem to get yourself in the right frame of mind for when you actually have to race.

A few highlights from the action we did get this week was the epic battle between Seeley and Donald in the Supersport race, an outstanding debut performance in qualifying from simon Andrews and the slick running and amount of practice time available from the practice sessions. Whilst this year's race day was disappointingly interrupted through circumstances and the weather, it will only make next year's North West 200 even more eagerly anticipated.

Last word and a special mention goes to all the hearty spectators who deserve a lot of praise for sticking it out for the full duration today in difficult conditions. Thank you to all of you who have followed the blogs and the rest of our Â鶹Éç NW200 coverage and thanks to those of you who have sent in texts,
photos and social media messages. Hopefully the Â鶹Éç coverage through online, tv and radio today helped make the day not too long for all of you!

I'm looking forward already to joining you all at next year's NW200. Fingers crossed for better weather.