MCGUINNESS – THE MAN TO BEAT
AT THE TT
HM Plant
Honda’s John McGuinness made it clear that he is the man to beat at the Isle of
Man TT this week. McGuinness posted the fastest time and unofficially broke his
own lap record aboard his Dunlop-shod Honda CBR1000RR Superbike.
Right from the start, the Morecambe-based rider put in an impressive
performance around the 37.73-mile mountain course. In the first practice
session (Sunday 27 May) McGuinness set the average speed of 122.013mph, aboard
his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and immediately headed the Superbike timesheets.
On Monday, the evening’s practice was held up for around an hour following a
two-machine collision at the start of the session. Practice was suspended while
the road was cleared of debris. When the session was restarted the riders were
restricted to one lap and, as a result, McGuinness only made one tour on his
Superstock bike to finish in third place with an average speed of 118.935mph.
The following evening McGuinness put all three of his HM Plant Honda bikes
through their paces around the famous Isle of Man
course and, in the process, posted the fastest average speed aboard his
superbike, 125.267mph. He finished in sixth and fourth place on his Honda
Supersport and Superstock bikes respectively.
By midweek there was no stopping the 33-year-old racer as he broke his own
outright lap record of 127.68mph that he set two years ago. McGuinness stopped
the clock at 17:42.43seconds, an amazing 127.81mph – a time that no other rider
was able to better for the remainder of the week. He finished second in
supersport and third in superstock.
On Thursday, despite the fact that the weather was fine, the blustery
wind which had been in evidence at the start of Practice Week, returned to pose
a few problems for the riders on the mountain section of the course. However,
this seemed to make little, if any, difference to McGuinness as he posted the
fastest average speed aboard his HM Plant CBR1000RR Superstock machine,
122.359mph. He was a little further down the standings on his superbike, as he
was only able to put in one lap from a standing start at the end of the
session, and finished fifth.
In today’s final practice session, before the first Superbike race tomorrow,
McGuinness went out on his Superstock and Supersport bikes and set average
speeds of 124.152mph and 120.789mph respectively.
John McGuinness: “Fantastic, I’m having a brilliant time here. Not only am I
fastest but the weather is perfect – no rain for the first time in nine years!
Over the week my Supersport and Superstock bikes have improved and we are just
about there now and I really can’t fault my Superbike – it’s a weapon. My
confidence has grown, I feel like I have done hundreds of laps and I just can’t
wait to get out there and race now.”
Consolidated Practice Times – Superbike – as of today
1: J McGuinness 127.810
31 May
2: G Martin
126.799
1 June
3: B Anstey
126.146
1 June
4: I Lougher
125.390
31 May
Consolidated Practice Times – Supersport – as of today
1: B Anstey
122.008
31 May
2: J McGuinness 121.908
31 May
3: G Martin
121.310
31 May
4: I Lougher
120.523
30 May
Consolidated Practice Times – Superstock – as of today
1; J McGuinness 124.152
2 June
2: I Hutchinson
124.066
2 June
3: J Griffiths 123.382
30 May
4: G Martin
123.234
30 May
TT Timetable
Saturday 3rd June
13:00
TT
Superbike Race (6 laps)
15:45 to 16:45
Solo
Practice (TT Superstock & Supersport Junior TT)
16:55 to 17:25
Sidecar
Practice
Monday 5th June
10:45
TT
Superstock Race (4 laps)
13:15
Sidecar
TT Race A (3 laps)
14:45 to 15:20
Solo
Practice (Supersport Junior TT & Senior TT)
Wednesday 7th June
10:45
Supersport
Junior TT Race (4 laps)
13:15
Sidecar
TT Race B (3 laps)
15:00 to 15:35
Solo
Practice (Senior TT)
Friday 9th June
10:45
Senior
TT Race (6 laps)
14:00
Lap
of Honor and Classic Parade
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