The North West 200 is a motorcycle race meeting held each May in Northern Ireland. The course is a street circuit, made up of public roads running between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush (the Triangle) is one of the fastest in the world, with speeds in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h). In practice for the 2012 event Martin Jessopp was clocked at 208 mph (335 km/h). It is one of around fifteen events run on public roads between April and October throughout the island of Ireland. It is the largest annual sporting event in Ireland, with the race weekend attracting over 150,000 visitors from all over the world.

Originally intended to be held somewhere in the north west of Ireland and organised by the City of Derry & District Motor Club, the initial event was moved to the north coast but the name was never changed. Since 1964 the event has been organised by the Coleraine and District Motor Club. In 2010 the meeting featured daytime practice on the Thursday for the first time.

The 2011 event took place on Saturday 21 May. There were significant delays due to a hoax bomb alert and then an extensive oil spill on the track caused racing to be cancelled after the completion of only one race.

Northwest, north-west or north west is the ordinal direction halfway between north and west on a compass. Northwest may also refer to

Michael Dunlop (born 10 March 1988) is a Northern Irish, professional motorcycle racer, brother of William and the son of the late Robert.

He made his TT debut in 2007, where his best finish was 25th in the Superbike TT. He made the decision to ride in the 2008 races at the last minute after the death of his father at the North West 200 earlier in the year. He finished 10th in the Senior TT with a fastest lap of 124.773 mph, making him the fastest Dunlop around the TT Course. Dunlop joined his father and uncle Joey in the record books in 2009 when he won the Supersport TT race on a 600cc Yamaha.

Dunlop has also won at the North West 200, recording his only victory to date at the 250 cc race in 2008. His father was killed during practice for this event.

Steve Plater (born 22 August 1972 in Luton) is an English motorcycle road racer. He was the 2009 British Supersport champion, and also finished as runner-up in the series twice in the late 1990s. In the British Superbike Championship he has 4 wins and 17 further podiums. He has won the prestigious Isle of Man Senior TT, North West 200 and also enjoyed success at Endurance racing. He lives in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, and is involved in property development with his father. He has two daughters.

Having briefly raced speedway in his teens, he started his working life as a bricklayer, beginning racing in 1994 and winning his first ever race, at Cadwell Park. In 1998 he won the British Powerbike championship, and only lost the more prestigious Supersport title on countback. He set an impressive pace at the 1999 Bol d'Or en route to finishing third on a Kawasaki, which lead him to race one in the 2000 British Superbike Championship full time, finishing 6th overall without a podium but with a string of 4th to 7th places. He missed much of 2001 through injury, but still took three podiums. 2002 was his strongest season to date, seeing him finish 5th overall on a Yamaha, with two late-season wins. In 2003 he rode a Honda to sixth overall, winning at Cadwell Park in 2003 )

Alastair Seeley (born October 4, 1979 in Carrickfergus) is a motorcycle road racer, currently competing in the British Superbike Championship. He was the 2009 British Superstock champion, and also has a strong record in road racing. He prefers fast, flowing circuits, and tends to get his best results on them.

Seeley raced motocross in his teens, but 'found pubs, clubs and girls' in his late teens and lost interest for a few years. He began circuit racing in 2000 in club events in Northern Ireland. In 2002 he racked up 20 wins, including his first national 125cc win and several 600 and Open class wins. His main 2003 focus was the Regal Championship, in which he regularly finished in the top ten, while he also won the Wirral Club Wales 600 and Powerbike Championship.

Seeley first came to wider attention by taking two wins in the 600cc class of the British Superbike Championship's Mondello Park round in 2004. That year he also made his first appearance at the North West 200, and won a 6-hour Pembury endurance race for Team Twilight. In 2005 he won the Irish Superbike Championship and contested in various other races. He successfully defended this in 2006, also winning the Irish Supersport title and taking 2 top-five finishes in the 600cc class at the North West 200. He also did some racing in America.