Cooper to make North West 200 Supertwin debut on Farquhar Kawasaki

Former British Superbike star Richard Cooper will make his North West 200 Supertwin debut on a Ryan Farquhar-prepared Kawasaki next month.

Cooper, who finished an impressive second in the CP Hire Superstock race on his first appearance at the 8.9-mile triangle circuit three years ago, will compete in this year’s Superstock and Superbike classes on a pair of Buildbase Suzukis. The 39 year-old will also make his debut on a Supertwin machine on a JMcC Roofing Kawasaki. The Ryan Farquhar-prepared ER6 was the machine Jeremy McWilliams had initially been slated to ride before his recent defection to the IFS Racing/Bayview Paton.

“I have missed nearly two years of British championship racing following the compound fracture to my right leg,” said Cooper.

“It was a nasty injury but there has not been a North West 200 since 2019 and I’ve good bikes in every class this year so I have to think that I am capable of matching what I did in 2019 and possibly fighting for race wins this year.

“I knew that unless I was on a bike that was built by someone like Ryan Farquhar it would be difficult to be competitive so I didn’t bother with the class before.

“When Jeremy McWilliams chose to ride the Paton it opened the door for me and it didn’t take me too long to make my decision.”