Arai clean sweep at the NW200

Arai riders claimed victory in all of the races at this year’s North West 200.

The Japanese helmet brand – celebrating 25 Years of being distributed in the United Kingdom - is synonymous with pure motorcycle road racing and the North West 200 is one of the greatest examples of this discipline.

Located on the northern coast of Ireland, the 9 mile ‘Triangle’ course allows riders to battle on closed public roads, reaching speeds of over 200mph threading between kerbs and blasting past houses. Though the annual event’s programme was cut short to five races due to the inclement weather, it was not enough to dampen the action.

William Dunlop, son of the late Robert Dunlop, set the standard for the day after taking victory in a dramatic 250cc race. After a race long dual with his brother Michael, Christian Elkin highsided out of the lead, taking both riders out to leave the door open for William to snatch the win. Chris Palmer followed in second to make it an Arai one-two.

In the event’s only Superbike race, what looked set to be a last lap fight between HM Plant Honda rider Steve Plater and Relentless Suzuki’s Bruce Anstey, a result was declared after just two laps due to an incident, handing Lincolnshire’s Plater the victory and the second Arai one-two of the day.

The Supersport podium was an Arai whitewash. In an almost repeat of the Superbike race, Steve Plater and Anstey once more battled it out for the spoils and again it was Plater who came out on top to clinch his eighth ever NW200 victory. Michael Dunlop completed the podium.

Like Plater, William Dunlop secured a second NW200 victory, this time in the 125cc class. Leading from the first lap, Dunlop rode a commanding race to win by seven seconds and emulate his father, Robert, as the last man to win the 125 and 250 races in the same day.

Despite the weather playing a part in the outcome, current National Superstock champion leader, Alastair Seeley, continued his current form by taking victory in the Superstock race, repeating the same feat he managed the previous year.

For all the latest Arai UK news see www.whyarai.co.uk

WSB Monza - a mixed day for Arai riders

The historic Monza circuit, Italy, once again played host to some classic, all-action races but the day’s two heats were far from straight forward for the Arai riders.

In Race 1, Yamaha’s Ben Spies look set to take the win following an epic scrap with the two Xerox Ducatis of championship leader, Noriyuki Haga, and Italian Michel Fabrizio. Having pulled a slight gap, Spies Yamaha appeared to run out of fuel, therefore promoting Fabrizio the victory and Haga in second.

Race 2, Haga’s 250th WSB start, ended after the popular Japanese collided with a bird and the following loss of feeling to his arm causing him to crash out at high speed, but uninjured. With Spies taking victory, Haga lead to the championship is now 54 points. Having qualified on the second row, Hanspree Ten Kate rider Jonathon Rea battled his way to a 5th in Race one before going one better in Race 2.

The Northern Irishman finally finding a setting on his Honda Fireblade to consistently battle at the front of the pack.Fresh from two podium places at the previous round at Assen, Holland, Leon Haslam had a weekend to forget. The Stiggy Honda’s qualifying gamble didn’t pay off, giving him a lot of work from the fifth row of the gird.

Despite battling through the pack in Race One, a technical problem saw him retire on the last lap. Race Two went much better Haslam as he rode the pace of the leading pack to come through to 7th place. Unfortunately, Haslam slipped to fourth in the overall standings after Fabrizio’s excellent results.

Noriyuki Haga - 2nd, DNF “Right at the start of Race 2 I was hit by a bird on my right arm; it hurt a lot and I lost all sensation, with strong pain and pins and needles in my right arm and hand. I tried to continue to race but it was too difficult to ride and as a result I unfortunately fell. Yes it hurts but I should be back in top shape very soon. Race 1 went much better for me of course and I really enjoyed the racing against Ben and Michel. I though at the end that I would surely end third but then Ben’s bike stopped so close to the finish line and I finished in second as a result. I’m sorry for him as he deserved the win and this year me and him will continue to battle it out.”

Leon Haslam - DNF, 7th "I went out on my second bike today, which I hadn't been riding all weekend, and took a bit of a gamble with it. We had some issues with the suspension, but we decided to stay with the set up we used in Assen. It took me a few laps to get into it, but I was able to run a good pace. The pace in the end of the race was definitely good enough for a place on the rostrum. It was a tough weekend, with bad qualifying results and a disappointing first race. To finish the second race in seventh race place is a good enough result, I am pretty happy."

Jonathan Rea – 5th, 4th “We just had a few problems with the bike in the latter stages of the race – I don’t know whether it’s the light fuel load or what, but it developed a bit of chatter which was quite hard to dial out after race one. I got busted by a pretty hard move by Laconi in that race and, by the time I’d got back past him, I’d lost touch with the leading group. In Race 2 I got a much better start and tried really hard to catch Fabrizio and Kiyo, but they had a little more left in the tank at the end. Still, I’ve equaled my best Superbike result and we’ve shown that we can race at the front now.”

For all the latest Arai UK news see www.whyarai.co.uk

No catching Crutchlow, it seems!

Cal Crutchlow took a dominating victory at Monza, Italy, in round five of the World Supersport championships to increase his championship lead to 18 points over Eugene Laverty.

After taking his fourth consecutive pole position, Crutchlow looked in commanding form for the race, but another average start gave the British rider work to do in the opening laps. Monza’s long straights always provide excellent slipstreaming and the plucky Arai rider took full advantage to initially take lead on lap five from previous round winner, Eugene Laverty, before getting in a race-long dice.

With two laps to go, Crutchlow put his head down and broke the chasing pack to storm to a memorable victory.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (1st): “We came here looking to finish in the top five to be honest on a circuit I don’t know. We did a good job this weekend at Yamaha so thanks to everyone who put a lot of effort in. we were never as fast as we could have been but we worked hard. When I got the break in the race today I went for it, I was willing to do anything to win, you could see by some of the passes I was taking no prisoners! It’s all credit to the team who got me here so a great win for them!”

For all the latest Arai UK news see www.whyarai.co.uk

More magic from the Wizard

Somtimes you just have to admire people who triumph when faced with tough challenges. Arai-sponsored rider Alastair Seeley is one of those people.



After a superb 1st place in the National Superstock 1000 race at Brand's Hatch Alastair had some bad news- he was without a ride for the next race.


Alastair's race team JMF Millsport decided they didn't want to travel to England for the BSB series and wanted to concentrate on the road series and are currently in talks with various riders.



So, the hunt began! Another problem emerged in the supply of Yamahas. They have only just started to arrive in the country and are all spoken for. Two bikes were earmarked for Alastair but were delivered to JMF Millsport, now not racing in England, leaving him an uphill battle to find something to race on at Oulton.


On April 29th, just days before the Oulton Park race, Alastair agreed to ride for Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing. With little preparation Alastair had a superb race and achieved first place - that's two out of two!





Info from http://www.alastairseeleyracing.co.uk/

For all the latest Arai UK news see www.whyarai.co.uk