Morecambe motorcycling champ John McGuinness made his annual trip to Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough at the weekend and the put in his usual solid performances around the woodland circuit.
Armed with just his Padgetts Honda Superstock machine, he was able to finish in the top five in all three of his races and once again thoroughly enjoyed his weekend on the North Yorkshire coast.
With Saturday playing host to some dry, sunny weather, John got his weekend underway with third place in the Superbike heat and lined up on the front row of the grid for the eight-lap race later in the day. A good start saw him up to third at the end of the first lap and although he got shuffled back to fifth, firstly by team-mate Ian Hutchinson and then by Michael Pearson, he enjoyed a good dice with the latter and eventually took a hard fought fifth place, also posting his best ever lap around the public road course, a lap of 1m45.796s making him the fifth fastest rider ever in the history of the event.
Sunday saw a lot different conditions, heavy overnight rain leaving the circuit extremely damp and regular drizzle meant it was going to be a difficult day for everyone. The second leg of the Superbikes saw John have one of his best rides in the wet on the roads for a long time and he took a fine fourth place in the 8-lap race only defeated by Ryan Farquhar, Ian Lougher and Hutchinson. He then completed his weekend with another fifth place, this time in the feature Gold Cup race.
During the course of the weekend, John was also part of the Parade laps, celebrating both 60 years of the Gold Cup races and 21 years of the Steve Henshaw Gold Cup, joining the likes of Carl Fogarty, Mick Grant, James Whitham and Phillip McCallen in entertaining the large crowd in attendance.
Speaking later, a happy John commented: “I always enjoy coming to race at Scarborough and this weekend has been no exception. It was 1996 when I first came here and I still have as much fun now as what I did then so it’s great to see another big crowd turn up.
“I haven’t ridden a 1000cc bike here since 2005 but I was soon on the pace and enjoyed every one of my three races. It was obviously a shame that the weather spoilt things a bit on Sunday but, from my own perspective, it was one of my best rides on the roads in the wet for a long time. I lapped quicker than I’ve ever done here this weekend and finished in the top 5 in every race so I can’t complain.
“It was also a privilege to be part of the celebrations in the Parade laps and, overall, it’s been a good weekend for everyone. We all love coming here and will be back again next year to do it all over again!”
John now turns his attention back to the short circuits with the next round of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship taking place at Silverstone this next weekend, 24-26 September.
Report by Phillip Wain. Pictures by Stephen Davison and Alan Armstrong Photography.