North West 200: Wet and wild on Northern Ireland coast

Up at the business end of the paddock, the big boys are every bit as accessible. “I was that snotty-nosed kid many years ago,” says McGuinness, “waiting around for Joey Dunlop’s autograph. Irish hospitality is the best in the world and that’s why the North West holds a special place in my heart.”

All the way round the Triangle between Portstewart, Portrush and Coleraine, you will find thousands of fans doing the same things: devouring dirty burgers, getting on the gargle, supping up the vroom.

“It might be a hidden secret over in England,” says Ian Paisley Jr, MP, external and a self-confessed petrol head, “but when the sun shines, there’ll be more than 120,000 people attending and that Triangle will rake in about £6m.

“To get an idea of how popular road racing is in Northern Ireland, take Lewis Hamilton and combine him with David Beckham, and that’s just some sense of how famous Joey Dunlop, external was and is. But there’s no real showbiz about road racers; it’s the bravery of those people that attracts so many people.

“You have so much respect because they’re doing something that in an instant could take their lives, and has taken many lives. You just seem so unworthy.”

Stand next to the Magherabuoy chicane and you get a good look at the riders before they take off towards Metropole, struggling to hold down the front end. William Dunlop, Joey’s nephew, pulls off the road and is helped off his bike and into an ambulance. Five minutes later he is off again, his popped shoulder having been popped back in again.

There are of course those who are not fans of ‘proper, hard men and women doing proper, hard things’. And you have to wonder whether, if the North West 200 did not already exist, it would be impossible nowadays to invent it. “Right, councillor, here’s the plan…”

“I sometimes ask myself that question,” says Owen. “The answer is ‘probably not’. There’s no way of making it safe.

“The organisers tie hay bales to lamp posts and say: ‘At least if someone hits that, that will protect them.’ But as long as there is someone willing to put the show on, lads willing to race and fans willing to pay to see it, it’s always going to happen.”

“We’re designed as human beings to see a challenge and to want to conquer it,” says Paisley, “whether it’s climbing a mountain or riding a motorcycle. It’s what separates us from the other species. But there are always people who want to stop it, especially if there’s been a bad injury or a tragedy.