Second successive top six for John McGuinness

John McGuinness
By Phil Wain
April 17 2006

John McGuinness scored his second successive top six finish in round three of the National Superstock Championship at Thruxton, Hampshire, on Easter Monday.

Riding the HM Plant Honda FireBlade, the Morecambe rider powered through from a first lap ninth to take sixth at the chequered flag - to gain ten more championship points and consolidate his fifth place overall in the championship table, closing to within 18 points of the current pace setter, Brendan Roberts.

With further developments to the machine, ‘Flint’ was strong throughout qualifying and, despite only being mid-pack through the speed trap times, over the entire lap he was consistently in the top eight. Sixth after the first session, he went two tenths quicker in the second and final 25-minute qualifying session, with a time of 1m19.305s and, although he dropped back a place to seventh, he was only seven tenths of a second adrift of the pole time - and only four tenths away from the second fastest rider. Speed was always going to be an issue around the high speed bumps of Thuxton, the fastest circuit on the British Championship calendar, but John was hopeful of making a good start and getting away with the front runners.

John made a steady getaway from the line, but he got pushed back to eighth on the opening lap and, when the pace car came out on lap two for an incident, he had been relegated back to ninth. After four laps under the controlled conditions, the race resumed and John held station in ninth for the next six laps. He was having a lonely race, a couple of seconds off the pack in front, and an equal distance ahead of the riders chasing behind. However, slowly but surely he was gaining time and, after overhauling Jon Boy Lee, he began to close the gap on Luke Quigley.

© Raceline Photography

Lapping, at times, half a second quicker than his rival, he was soon onto the back wheel of Quigley - but try as he might he could find no way through. But with race leader Adrian Coates crashing out, he was up to seventh. The dicing duo were just short of catching the leading five riders, but with Brendan Roberts falling on the last lap, John moved up into sixth, and this was where he crossed the line after 18 hard fought laps.

Speaking after another frenetic race, McGuinness, who celebrated his birthday on Easter Sunday, commented:
“That was a very tough race, and I couldn’t have ridden any harder than what I did. I’ve been racing for quite a while now, but I’d say that I’m riding as hard now as what I’ve ever done, and I can’t do any more than what I’m doing. When the pace car went in I got a slide coming out of the complex, and that lost me the tow off the front pack. But once I’d got by Jon Boy Lee, I was soon able to close the gap up to Luke Quigley. I just couldn’t find a way by though and, although I was lining up a move on the final lap on the run to the chicane, the bike was on the rev limiter all the way up the hill and I lost that little bit of power needed.

“I’m happy with the way I rode, and it’s probably one of the best races I’ve ever ridden. I was still running a strong pace at the end, and there’s no way I could have got the bike round any faster. I’m the only Honda out there, and am getting into the top six on a regular basis, both in qualifying and in the race, but I want to be in that front group. We’re literally just fractions away, and if we can find that little bit extra we’ll be right with them and fighting it out for the win. Oulton is one of my favourite circuits, so let’s hope we can crack the podium there.”

STOP PRESS:
Following a post race investigation after round three of the National Superstock Championship at Thruxton today, race winner Howie Mainwaring was penalised 20 seconds for a yellow flag infringement and racing in a careless manner. This dropped Mainwaring down to 13th place, and John McGuinness was subsequently promoted to fifth place. This moves John onto 29 points, although he has dropped back a place to sixth overall in the championship.

Round four of the National Superstock Championship takes place in two weeks’ time, on Bank Holiday Monday, 1st of May, at Oulton Park, Cheshire.