Title Top Tens for Triumph at the North West 200
The 2026 North West 200 wrapped up yesterday with a bumper day of racing on Ireland's North West coast, where the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS secured two top ten finishes in the Supersport race, as well crossing the line as lead Sportbike in the Supertwin/Sportbike races.
Practice and qualifying week was disrupted with mixed weather conditions at the 8.7-mile Triangle circuit, with Triumph’s Dom Herbertson (KTS Triumph Factory Racing), Peter Hickman (TROOPER Triumph by PHR), Pierre Yves Bian (Swan Racing by PHR) and Barry Burrell (PHR Performance Triumph) not able to fully utilise the track time throughout the sessions.
Thursday’s practice and race schedule was changed due to an incident in the opening Superbike session, which saw the evening’s races cancelled and replaced with final qualifying sessions for all classes.
Due to the schedule change, Saturday's Tides Restaurant Supersport race was to be the only outing for the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS machines, where Herbertson, Bian and Burrell lined up for six laps of the fast roads circuit.
On the opening lap of six, the race was red flagged and the riders returned to the paddock to await the restart. Absent from the grid was Hickman with his TROOPER Triumph, due to the five race rule, where he decided to sit out the Supersport race.
The race was quickly restarted and the field set off for six laps, where after the first lap Herbertson was ninth, but it was Bian who made his way through from 35th and was 10th aboard his Street Triple 765, while Burrell was 18th.
With each lap completed Herbertson and Bian’s Triumphs were holding their positions in the top ten, but on the penultimate lap the race was red flagged due to an incident and the results were declared with the leaders having completed four-full laps, which saw Herbertson eight and Bian ninth. Burrell, who had come through the pack from 56th, finished 16th after an impressive ride.
Meanwhile in the Sportbike class, the Triumph Daytona 660 also finished strong with Herbertson just outside the top ten in combined qualifying, sitting in 11th place heading into Saturday’s two races.
The first four-lap race kicked off the days’ racing on the North Coast where Herbertson crossed the line 12th aboard his Triumph machine and with a combined class with the Supertwins, the KTS Triumph was the first Sportbike machine to cross the line.
The second Sportbike race saw Herbertson collect another tenth place and came home as the lead Sportbike machine once again, with the PHR Performance duo of Burrell and Bian 21st and 22nd respectively.
Triumph’s road racing teams will now turn their attention to the Isle of Man TT Races, which start with first practice on Monday 25 May.
Dom Herbertson - KTS Macadam Triumph Factory Racing:
“Lots of positives after my first race of the year with the KTS Macadam Triumph Factory Racing team onboard both the 765 and Sportbike. The weather was against us in qualifying for the Supersport class and we were unable to complete a dry lap due to a few red flag situations, meaning we started the race from 38th position and worked our way back up to eighth position with a personal PB. The icing on the cake for me was that the KTS team crossed the line first in both races in the Sportbike class which sets us up nicely for the TT aboard the Daytona 660. The week has put us in a great place as a team to tackle the Isle of Man TT in both classes onboard the Triumphs and I cannot wait to get going!”
