After a steady start to the 2010 Isle of Man TT Races, Morecambe’s John McGuinness became the first man to lap at more than 130mph in practice this week when he set a scorching lap of 130.242mph during Wednesday evening’s third session. Conditions were perfect on the Island and McGuinness took full advantage to go almost nine seconds quicker than his nearest rival.
After Saturday’s opening, untimed session was wiped out by heavy rain and fog, John first took to the Mountain Course on Monday evening where he recorded two laps on his HM Plant Honda Superbike machine, the quickest at 127.090mph which was the third quickest on the night. Laps of 120.289mph and 124.523mph on the Padgetts Supersport and Superstock machines saw him fourth quickest in each class.
Tuesday’s second practice session got underway on time at 6.20pm despite heavy rain and mist during the day but, except for a few damp patches, especially at Ramsey and Governor’s Bridge, conditions were again good. As always, John decided to exercise caution with the track surface less than 100% but again posted two laps on the Superbike machine, the best this time 125.546mph. He also went out on the Superstock machine although fuel problems kept him down in 16th place.
Conditions were absolutely perfect on Wednesday evening with the whole of the Island bathed in beautiful sun and after setting the fastest lap of the week on his opening lap at 129.265mph, John went quicker still second time around to reassert his authority on the Superbike class and the lap of 130.242mph saw him comfortably top the leaderboard. Two laps on the Supersport machine saw him record a best speed of 123.128mph, the third quickest on the night, whilst a solitary lap of 124.973mph was good enough for 7th in the Superstock class.
Speaking on Wednesday evening, John said: “Conditions were pretty good tonight and we made a few improvements to the bike so after having a look round on the first lap, everything felt right to push for a fast lap.
“I got held up in a couple of places and lost a bit of time from Ramsey to the Waterworks where there were yellow flags out so it could have been a good few seconds quicker. Conditions were good though, the tracks getting a fair bit of runner laid down now too so it was good to stick a 130mph lap in and get to the top, Practice doesn’t mean anything though so I just used the first couple of sessions to get dialled back in and we’re not a million miles away now.
“All three bikes are working well so let’s hope this good weather continues and we can finish practice strobgly in readiness for Saturday’s first race.”
Practice continues today (Thursday) and Friday evening before the opening Superbike race takes place at 12pm on Saturday.
• Picture by Stephen Davison – Pacemaker Press International