Just to set the scene 1st, I was watching the Thursday night practice for the NW200 250 race from the coast road sectoin of the course. The 1st few bikes were crusing and an anouncement came over the radio that there had been an incident at Mathers Cross. I waited to see if Robert Dunlop came by, but unfortunately he was involved in the incident and as we know, sadly lost his life later that night in the Causeway hospital. It had been his first time to ride the 250 since 1994 following his crash at the I.O.M.
The atmosphere that night was the worst I ever experienced. Questions were asked about weather to run Saturday's races or not. The Dunlop family said it should go ahead.
The 1st race on Saturday was the 250 race. Michael & William Dunlop ( Robert's sons.) went out for the warm up lap to show appreciation to the fans. Williams bike siezed so Michael finished the warm up lap alone.
However, instead of pulling into the pits as planned, he had a last minute urge to race, so he took his position on the grid. What happened in the next 20 minutes brought grown men to tears. Michael went on to take the win, his 1st at the NW200. Here's the last few laps of that magical race. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZzrIL2pTQY
R.I.P Robert & Joey.
The atmosphere that night was the worst I ever experienced. Questions were asked about weather to run Saturday's races or not. The Dunlop family said it should go ahead.
The 1st race on Saturday was the 250 race. Michael & William Dunlop ( Robert's sons.) went out for the warm up lap to show appreciation to the fans. Williams bike siezed so Michael finished the warm up lap alone.
However, instead of pulling into the pits as planned, he had a last minute urge to race, so he took his position on the grid. What happened in the next 20 minutes brought grown men to tears. Michael went on to take the win, his 1st at the NW200. Here's the last few laps of that magical race. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZzrIL2pTQY
R.I.P Robert & Joey.
