Morecambe’s John McGuinness showed his undoubted class around the Isle of Man Mountain Course on Friday evening when he won a thrilling Senior TT race.
The Honda TT Legends rider found himself seven seconds in arrears at the end of the first lap but he hunted race leader Guy Martin down, and with two stunning laps on laps 3 and 4, he was able to go some 15 seconds clear and eventually came home for his 17th TT win and 33rd TT podium to round out another brilliant week on the Island.
With the race having been delayed by some five hours due to wet weather in the north of the Island, John was unusually down in fourth position as they swept through Glen Helen for the first time and although he clawed his way back up to third at the end of the lap he was still seven seconds behind the pace setting Guy Martin. However, being the quickest rider on the second lap allowed him to eat into Martin’s advantage and a superb first pit stop saw him draw level with Martin at Glen Helen on lap 3.
By the end of the lap, he’d gone into the lead for the first time and, with a brilliant lap of 131.248mph, the fastest of the race, he was 12 seconds clear of Bruce Anstey by the completion of lap 4. A third of the race was still to be completed though but John has been in this position many times before and he controlled his lead for the remainder of the race, eventually crossing the line just over 7 seconds ahead of Martin who eventually took second.
Speaking later, a delighted John said; “I can’t remember being pushed that hard in a Superbike race here for some time and I certainly had to work for it. I didn’t have the greatest of practice laps on Thursday as I picked up a rear wheel puncture so it took me a lap or so to get dialled in to today’s race. I made the odd mistake here and there and went wide on a couple of occasions but by lap 2 I was beginning to get in the groove a bit which was a good job as I was quite a way adrift and really had to dig deep.
“The first pit stop was mega and I pushed really hard on laps 3 and 3 and that was where I won the race. It gave me that bit of breathing space I needed.”
“The second pit stop gave me a bit more time over Guy and over the last two laps I didn’t let him get anywhere near me. To win my second Superbike race this week is superb and things couldn’t really have gone any better for me at TT2012. I’m really enjoying my riding at the minute and I don’t think I’ve ever ridden better.
“I’ve been fortunate to have been given some terrific equipment this year and I’ve just got to say thank you to everyone that’s involved with John McGuinness Racing. Today’s been my 17th TT win, my 33rd podium and my 51st finish and I’m dead, dead proud of what I’ve achieved this week.”
Report by Phil Wain. Pictures by Pacemaker Press International