Double points haul at Mallory for John McGuinness
Raceline Photography
By Phil Wain
May 1 2005
John McGuinness got his British Superbike Championship campaign back on track at a sun kissed Mallory Park, claiming points in each of the two races.
The meeting was blighted by incidents and red flags, but ‘Flint’ was able to avoid all of the trouble and, with two lightning starts, finished 11th and 12th to take nine hard earned points from the meeting.
The week leading up to the event was troublesome, to say the least, with team manager Jim Moodie leaving the AIM Racing squad and it had an effect with John languishing in 24th place after the opening qualifying session, the R1 struggling around the 1.39mile circuit. Top end speed was the main problem, with the bike only 31st through the speed trap. However, the team regrouped and dug deep for the final qualifying session and John showed his usual grit and determination to haul himself up to 12th, although he was still a little concerned about the race set-up.
© Raceline Photography
John got a tremendous start in the first race and was holding onto 7th, when the red flag came out due to a heavy crash involving championship leader Ryuichi Kiyonari. Another good getaway in the re-start saw him again in the top ten but a near crash at Devil’s Elbow lost him four places and it took a few laps to settle back into his rhythm. He eventually came home in 11th after being embroiled in a battle with Steve Brogan and Steve Plater, a battle that went in Brogan’s favour.
The second race was again heavily affected by crashes and stoppages, becoming a short 12-lap sprint for the somewhat depleted field. John perfected the start once more to make it into the top ten but a coming together with a charging Ben Wilson at the hairpin dropped him to 12th, a position he held until the chequered flag, adding another 4 points to his tally.
After completing the second race, John commented, “They were two really tough races today and I battled as hard as I possibly could from beginning to end. We struggled again in qualifying but I put in a couple of quick laps to get a decent grid position and I got away brilliantly in each race, running as high as 7th at one stage. I was struggling through Devil’s Elbow all weekend and I had a huge moment there on the second lap, just managing to keep control but it was enough for the leaders to get a bit of a gap. Steve Plater had a big crash in front of me on the last lap allowing Steve Brogan to pull away just enough to deny me my first top ten of the year.”
“The second race was pretty much the same and I made a few little mistakes at places where it mattered - losing the tow from the riders in front - but I’m happy enough with the weekend overall. I was inside the lap record in qualifying and everyone was trying really hard this weekend, which may have been why a few of the boys crashed out. I’m pleased to have scored points in both races and am getting closer to the front so if we can find a little bit more speed from the bike, we’ll be even closer. The team worked really hard all weekend so it’s pleasing for them to have got two good results as well and puts us in good stead for Oulton Park, which is always a good circuit to ride.”
John and the team head to Oulton in just a few days, with round four of the series taking place at the Cheshire venue on May Bank Holiday, Monday 2nd May.
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