MCGUINNESS RE-WRITES THE SENIOR TT RECORD BOOKS
 HM Plant Honda’s John
McGuinness took his third TT victory today of the ’06 TT Festival when
he emphatically won the Senior TT, giving him his eleventh win and
third hat trick on the Isle of Man while handing Honda its 130th TT
victory.
As in previous performances at the 2006 TT Festival
McGuinness executed a blistering start, and smashed the lap record that
he set in Saturday’s superbike race on the opening lap with a
unbelievable average speed of 128.146-mile an hour.
However, it
was on the following lap that the Morecambe-based rider was to rip up
the TT record books as he broke the 129-mph barrier. He raced his
Dunlop-shod Honda CBR1000RR superbike around the 37.73-mile track in a
time of 17minutes 29.26seconds, with a staggering average speed of
129.451-mph, the fastest-ever lap in the TT’s 99-year history.
Once
the 33-year-old rider was on track Guy Martin initially chased him
down. However, Martin was soon overtaken by Aussie Superbike newcomer
Cameron Donald. The Melbourne-based competitor, who competed on the
island for the first time last year in the 600 class, relentlessly
piled the pressure on McGuinness, but despite this, McGuinness
maintained station at the head of the field throughout the 226.38-mile
fixture.
McGuinness and his crew had two calm, and perfectly
executed, pit stops at the end of laps two and four; on both occasions
the HM Plant Honda team gained an advantage. In the second McGuinness
left the pit lane before any other riders arrived, giving him an
additional seven second gain.
By the time McGuinness returned
to the track for the final two laps he had established a staggering 32
second lead over Donald, who had experienced a little trouble
re-starting his bike in the pits. McGuinness remained concentrated and
pushed until the end of the race claiming victory with a 20 second
advantage over the impressive Australian.
With this year’s
three TT wins McGuinness now equals Steve Hislop’s Bob Heath’s and Dave
Molyneux’s tally of 11 victories, with only Joey Dunlop, Mike Hailwood
and Phillip McCallen ahead of him on 26, 14 and 13 victories
respectively.
John McGuinness: “It has got to be the best TT I
have ever had. It was unbelievable, the Honda was awesome and the guys
from Dunlop have done a fantastic job, the whole package has done us
proud and, not only that, but we’ve had mega race conditions. This race
was a little more difficult than Saturday’s Superbike race as I was
being pushed all the way by Cameron, so I just rode to my boards and
there was absolutely no let up. There is no doubt that the second lap
felt quick, I made Guy (Martin) my marker and concentrated on it. I had
a fabulous ride over the Mountain. This year has been the best for the
TT and for me. I have really enjoyed my racing here this week, everyone
has worked hard and we have the results. It was great to get the lap
record, but I wasn’t going for that, I was going for the win and I got
it. Perfect.”
Neil Tuxworth: “It was been a fantastic TT week
for John and Honda and I’m really happy for him. It is also great that
now with John’s three wins and Nick Crowe and Darren Hope’s two side
car victories we are now level pegging with Yamaha on 130 TT wins. It
will certainly make the TT ‘s centenary interesting next year.”
Senior TT Result
1: J McGuinness (Honda) 1 47 38.84
2: C Donald (Honda) 1 47 59.45
3: B Anstey (Suzuki) 1 48 08.79
4: I Lougher (Honda) 1 48 19.11
5: G Martin (Yamaha) 1 49 40.71
6: K Rennie (Kawasaki) 1 50 57.62
7: D Morgan (Honda) 1 51 39.48
8: R Porter (Yamaha) 1 51 50.90
9: N Beattie (Yamaha) 1 52 07.60
10: G Carswell (Suzuki) 1 52 13.76
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