From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

NORTH WEST 200 RACE CANCELLED

Organisers cancelled Saturday¹s North West 200 feature race after a combination of heavy rain and a “roads open notice” left officials at the Northern Ireland event with few options, all after an incident-packed day.

With the roads due to reopen at 6.30pm the superbike riders returned to the grid from the warm-up lap, at 6.10pm, to report that conditions for the proposed six-lap race were treacherous.

“That warm-up lap was scary,” said Honda Racing team rider Steve Plater. “We had a wet-weather tyre in the front and a semi-wet weather tyre in the rear but I was sliding everywhere under braking. Nobody in their right mind wanted to go out and race in those conditions ­ it was the right decision to take.”

The cancelled feature race was due to be the sixth and final race of the day. Michael Rutter won the earlier superbike support race ­ the opening race on the programme at the 9-mile public roads circuit near Portstewart, in the north of the country.

Rutter’s race victory, in a five-lap affair held in dry conditions, came after the Leicestershire rider set a new absolute lap record, at an average speed of 121.34mph.

Rutter fought with eventual runner-up, Ulsterman Adrian Archibald for much of the five laps while Honda’s Steve Plater powered the 1000cc SP-2 machine from seventh on the opening lap to eventually grab third with a lap to go.

“The wind was really strong and was my biggest problem,” said Plater. “I struggled to keep the machine upright on the straights but it didn’t really matter, I could make that time up on the coast road, on the run to the finish line.”

Plater’s Honda team-mate for the North West 200, Ian Lougher, made a pit stop after the first lap to adjust his suspension settings then returned to the track to test the machine in readiness for the day¹s ill-fated superbike, feature race.

Lougher said: “I’ve not had much time on the machine and practice here has been wet so I opted to try and get the machine better set up, all really with a view to the Isle of Man TT races in a couple of weeks.”

Lougher continued his domination of the 125cc event at the North West 200 meeting, winning for the fourth year in succession aboard his Mannin Honda. But Lougher was forced to pass Michael Wilcox into the last corner of the 45-mile race to take victory in a ran-soaked five-lap encounter as Hondas filled the top 12 places.

Local ace Ryan Farquhar took a Supersport 600cc double, his first win came in a race stopped after two laps as rain fell on the blustery coastal venue. Farquhar took the lead from Honda-mounted Scotsman Callum Ramsay on the two-mile run along the coast road on lap two.

That move was enough to give Farquhar his first win at the annual North West 200 event while Welshman Ian Lougher took the final podium place with third aboard his CBR600RR Honda.

Farquhar’s second race win came in a four-lap affair when he beat Lougher but an unhappy Lougher explained: “There was a crash on the run into Portrush, oil on the track, marshals stood in the middle of the track and the oil flags waved, there’s no way Farquhar should have passed me there.”

Lougher, riding a Manton CBR600RR Honda, crossed the finish line four seconds ahead of third place finisher, New Zealander Bruce Anstey.

Adrian Archibald scored his debut win at the event with a last lap move to secure the Production race glory. The race was reduced to four laps after a catalogue of incidents. On the second lap of the original race German Friedhelm Beltermann crashed at the 140mph, right-hand Mathers Cross section of the track.

Beltermann escaped serious injury but Lancashire rider Keith Nicholls suffered a broken arm and broken leg when he crashed on the warm-up lap for the re-start. A one-hour delay followed as oil was cleaned from the track.

RESULTS:
(All GB or Ireland unless stated)
DeWallt Superbike race (five laps ­ 44.62 miles):
1 Michael Rutter (Ducati) 22:25.76, ­119.56 mph
2 Adrian Archibald (Suzuki) 22:29.95, ­ 119.19 mph
3 Steve Plater (Honda) 22m 39.21, 118.38 mph
4 Ryan Farquhar (Suzuki) 22:47.09, 117.69 mph
5 David Jefferies (Suzuki) 22:51.08, 117.35 mph
6 Stephen Thomson (Suzuki) 23:00.22, 116.57 mph.

Traks 125cc race (five laps ­ 44.62 miles):
1 Ian Lougher (Honda) 27:23.95, 96.12 mph
2 Michael Wilcox (Honda) 27:54.23, 96.10 mph
3 Paul Robinson (Honda) 27:56.63,­ 95.97 mph
4 David Lemon (Honda) 28:12.14, 95.09 mph
5 Mark Lunney (Honda) 28:19.07, 94.70 mph
6 Mark Curtin (Honda) 28:24.18, 94.41 mph.

Black Horse 600cc race (two laps ­ 17.85 miles):
1 Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki) 9:25.52
2 Callum Ramsay (Honda) 9:25.90
3 Ian Lougher (Honda) 9:26.09
4 John McGuinness (Triumph) 9:26.35
5 Michael Rutter (Ducati) 9:26.74
6 Jim Moodie (Triumph) 9:27.09

Regal 600cc race (four laps ­ 35.70 miles):
1 Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki)
2 Ian Lougher (Honda)
3 Bruce Anstey, New Zealand (Triumph)
4 Adrian Archibald (Suzuki)
5 John McGuinness (Triumph)
6 Ryan Rainey (Honda)

Production 1000cc (four laps ­ 35.70 miles):
1 Adrian Archibald (Suzuki)
2 Ryan Farquhar (Suzuki)
3 David Jefferies (Suzuki)
4 Bruce Anstey (Suzuki)
5 Stephen Thompson (Suzuki)
6 Richard Britton (Suzuki)




More, from a press release issued by Team Renegade Ducati:

2003 NORTH WEST 200
NORTHERN IRELAND
10TH MAY 2003

A WIN FOR RUTTER AS RAIN STOPS PLAY AT THE NORTH WEST 200

Michael Rutter stormed to victory in the opening Superbike race of the 2003 North West 200, but deteriorating weather conditions at the triangle circuit robbed the Renegade Ducati rider of the opportunity to repeat his winning ways in the feature race of the day.

Taking maximum advantage of his pole position start, Rutter was first away from the line in the Dewalt Superbike race and led the field on the opening two laps around the 9-mile public roads circuit. A hard charging Adrian Archibald managed to squeeze his way past the Renegade Ducati rider and into the lead on lap three, but the Irish roads specialist was relegated back to second place just one lap later as Rutter dived underneath him at the Juniper chicane.

With a clear road in front of him, Rutter put his head down and shattered his own lap record on the final lap, taking the race win by over four seconds from Archibald. Steve Plater finished a further ten seconds back to claim the final podium position.

“It was a close race,” said Rutter. “Archibald came past me on lap three and he was going really well, so I thought I’d bide my time and watch to see where he was strong before making a move. I eventually went past him at the Juniper chicane on lap four and then got my head down on the last lap and pulled out a bit of a gap.”

Sprinting back from the podium, Rutter jumped straight onto the Ducati 748 normally campaigned in the British Championship by Renegade teammate, Leon Haslam, for the first of the day’s Supersport races. After starting from ninth place on the grid, Rutter had just started to close onto the back of the leading quartet when the onset of rain caused the race to be red flagged on the fourth lap.

“I was surprised at how much I enjoyed racing the 748,” commented Rutter. “It doesn’t have anything like the power of the Superbike, which means you have to think about race strategy a lot more and concentrate on carrying the speed through the slower turns. It took me a couple of laps to adjust, but I was laughing inside my helmet once I got going. I was disappointed when the race was red flagged because of the rain, as I’m confident that I could have done better than fifth if it had run full distance.”

The rain was still very much in evidence as Rutter returned to the track for the CP Hire Production race, which was red flagged on the opening lap following a crash at Mathers Cross. Restarted over four laps after a lengthy delay, Rutter was forced to retire from the race on the opening lap when his Ducati 999R developed an electrical fault. An electrical problem with his Ducati 748 also forced the Renegade Ducati rider to sit out the second Supersport race.

Having already racked up one Superbike win, Rutter was confident of another good result as he lined up for the feature race of the day: the Velux Windows North West 200. However, with the heavens opening as the riders formed up on the grid and the cut off time of 6.30pm approaching fast, event organisers made the decision to cancel the final race.

The downpour may have led to a shortened race programme, but it wasn’t enough to dampen Rutter’s enthusiasm for the North West 200, or his enjoyment of the day’s racing.

“The North West is a unique event and one that I look forward to every year,” declared Rutter. “Real road racing and short circuit racing are getting further and further apart every year, with each demanding a very different approach. I just hope that in the future it remains possible for me to combine the two disciplines, because I’ve really enjoyed the racing here today and it provides a welcome respite from the pressure cooker environment of the British Superbike paddock for both myself and the team.”