2022 NW200: Cummins ‘moving in the right direction’

Having broken his collarbone in a pre-season training accident and then suffering a highside at the recent Oulton Park BSB meeting, Conor Cummins showed there were no ill effects at the North West 200 on Thursday with two top five finishes.

Continuing on the Milenco by Padgetts Honda machinery, fifth in the Supersport race was followed by, arguably, a better ride in the Superstock class where he not only came through from 18th on the grid to take fourth but also set the second fastest lap of the race. “It was grim out there, that’s for sure!” the Manxman told bikesportnews.com. “It was wet through everywhere and there was some standing water in places but visibility was the main issue. Starting so far back on the grid in the Superstock race didn’t help so it was just a case of making the best of a bad job.” With a new for 2022 Fireblade and new 600cc Honda as well, as well as the collarbone injury, Cummins has had a lot to contend with early in the season and admitted it hadn’t all gone plain sailing during qualifying. “The collarbone’s spot on but the Superbike is a lot different to what we were on before and although I’d put in quite a few miles on it at Jurby, I struggled a bit with set up at the beginning of the week. I couldn’t attack every lap like I wanted to during qualifying whilst the wind on Tuesday was horrendous. “It was better on Thursday and I improved on each bike so we’re moving in the right direction and getting closer to where we need to be. The results in the wet, all things considered, were pretty good, but it’s fair to say everyone’s hoping for a good, dry day on Saturday.”