The International North West 200 was next on the race schedule and it was to prove a difficult week for Davy Morgan Racing, with thoughts on other things and a few machine problems making it a long and tiring week.

Tuesday Practice
Conditions were pretty good although there was a cold wind blowing as Davy took the Investasure Honda Fireblade to the line for the Superbike Qualifying and it was to be a disappointing run with the 26th fastest time in a lot of traffic and a gearbox problem to solve. In the Supersport session it did not get any better on the Autotech/McKeown Honda as a couple of small problems again resulted in being 26th fastest and not really were Davy wanted to be. The 250cc Session went a bit better on the Ballygowan & District RRSC 250 Honda as Davy qualified in third place and provisionally on the front row, but a long way behind on time and with a rebuild required in an attempt for more speed.

Thursday Practice
Conditions were not as good as Tuesday and were to get worse as the evening progressed, but Davy was hoping to improve on his times and give a better showing for his sponsors. On the Investasure Superbike he managed to take two seconds of his time, but most of the session was spent making sure the gearbox rebuild was okay and then when the session was red-flagged he got caught in traffic and was really disappointed to qualify 36th overall. On Autotech Driver & Rider Training Supersport machine he was struggling to get a decent time, but did eventually take three seconds off his time from Tuesday and qualified 29th with the bike still not feeling as he would like. The 250 Honda engine had been rebuilt since Tuesday and the first three laps would be to run it in, but by this stage the rain was on so no one was going to get a better time and Davy did not get an opportunity to see if it had helped the speed of the Ballygowan & District RRSC backed machine, but it would be a front row start.

After practice an upbeat Davy said, “I’m a racer not a qualifier, although I know I should and need to be further up, we had a really busy day on Wednesday rebuilding the gearbox of the Fireblade and the engine on the 250. The big bike is quick enough I just need to ride it harder, the 600 feels slow, but again that may be just me getting to know the bike and the 250 I would love to win again, but I don’t know if it has the legs to match the others. Hopefully Saturday will be better and I will put on a show for myself and sponsors who have been great.
The set-up I have this year is brilliant, with my bikes from Kevin & Angela (Wood) at Investasure Financial Services, John (McKeown) from Autotech Driver & Rider Training and the Ballygowan Supporters Club supporting the 250 effort. Then you have Allan (Frew) & Campbell (MacCleay) from Annadale Design & MacCLEAY Motor Engineers who have provided this excellent transporter and Andy (McCann) from CarNET.com Car & Van Sales whose service van has proved invaluable. Then there is BLRC (Belfast Land Rover Centre), HelmetSPOT, Walsh Western, NGK Spark Plugs and numerous others who provide finances and support to keep us running throughout the year. We would thank them all as everyone of them is vital to keeping Davy Morgan Racing on Track.

Saturday Race-Day
Saturday and conditions were pretty much perfect and everyone involved with Davy Morgan Racing were looking for a good and more important safe day on track. However it did not turn out that way, it was a nightmare start to the day when Davy was fortunate not to get caught up in the start line incident involving five riders that caused the opening Dewalt Superbike Race to be red flagged.

This detuned the Saintfield Lorry Driver a bit with the centenary TT was just around the corner and when the race did restart Davy got away slowly on the Investasure Honda and despite taking another six seconds of his practice time he finished in a frustrating twenty four place. In the Club SOI Supersport Race it was almost eight seconds quicker than the practice times, but it was another twenty fourth place finish, but at least one positive from this race was that the Autotech CBR600RR is not slow as it was clocked at 177mph through the speed trap.

The Greenline 250cc Race did not go well either as the little Honda did not have the legs on the triangles long straights to stay with the others and at one stage Davy was down in eighth place, but rode hard to climb back up to finish a creditable sixth. Two DNF’s were to follow in the Blackhorse Superbike and Ballymoney Borough Council Supersport Races to complete by Davys high standards a poor day.

On Saturday evening a disappointed Davy Morgan commented, “Other than the run on the 250 on Saturday it was bad week for me and the team, I think my focus has been too much on the TT ”.