“Rules changed dramatically, R6 becoming dated” says North West 200 veteran

Richard Cooper faces a difficult task to add to his North West 200 tally due to amended rules.

Cooper is aiming for a sixth win at the road racing event which will be held May 7-10.

He prepared by winning a four-timer at the Ulster Superbike Championship opener this weekend.

But he is wary of tweaked regulations in the Supersport and Supertwin classes at the North West 200.

Supersport will now use a British Superbike Championship parts list.

Cooper told the Belfast Newsletter: “We come to win races, however the rules have changed quite dramatically over the past year or so with the Supersport and next generation bikes that are allowed into the class.

“The R6 is becoming dated and we have to do the best we can with what we’ve got – same in the Supertwin class now, the rules have changed again.

“I’m very happy with the machines we have, albeit we’re on the older machines in the class now.

“We’re going to have to pull something out of the bag and the teams are working hard, as all the teams do, but I’m pretty confident with the experience I have of the two teams and the continuity that I carry on with these guys; if you listen to some of the guys they’re on new packages with new teams and they’ve got to gel with those packages.

“I know that we can roll out onto that Coast road in practice and be ready to go.”

Cooper will be representing th  BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha team in the Supersport class.

“The Russell Racing Yamaha R6 is built around me,” he praised.

He will ride a Kawasaki in the Supertwin.