Alastair Seeley to make North West 200 Supertwin debut in 2026

The 2026 North West 200 will see Alastair Seeley make his debut in the Supertwin class.

29-time North West 200 race winner Seeley has found record levels of success in the event’s other classes, most notably in Supersport where he’s a 13-time winner, but also in Superstock and Superbike.

The Supertwin class has remained untouched by Seeley until now, though, but that will change this year as he will pilot an Aprilia RS 660 for the Binch Pro Racing by 3b Construction, for which he will also ride a Ducati Panigale V2 in the Supersport class at this year's NW200 road races.

“I’ve never ridden a Supertwin machine before so it will be something new,” said Seeley. 

“Maybe I can try to knock out some wins in the smaller [capacity] classes rather than searching for wins in the bigger bike classes where all the big hitters who are regularly competing in BSB are.

“The Supertwin class is a fiercely competitive class and I know that Richard Cooper will be having a good go again and with riders like Paul Jordan, Peter Hickman, Adam McLean and Jeremy McWilliams in the class, there will be plenty of competition.”

Seeley expects that the Supertwin will give him a greater chance of success because of the lower power output of the bike that should reduce the physical demands of riding compared to the Supersport and 1,000cc classes for a rider who no longer competing full-time.

“I am not a full-time racer now and I am not training as much as before,” he said.

“The smaller bike will be easier physically for me to ride compared to the bigger bikes in the Superstock and Superbike classes which take a lot of wrestling. The more races I have, then I am getting mileage that I wouldn’t otherwise get.”

The move into Supertwin is one that North West 200 event director Mervyn Whyte expects will result in success.

“Alastair [Seeley] and the team have a real chance of making history at the 2026 Briggs Equipment North West 200,” Whyte said.

“It won’t be easy but Alastair will have plenty of home support behind him and if he can achieve that 30th win it will be an incredible achievement.”