Another points finish for Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness
Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness had a disappointing outing in the latest round of the National Superstock 1000cc Championship, but still managed to collect two more points.
The Padgetts Honda ace overcame being pushed wide on the opening lap to end the shortened race at the Oulton Park in 14th place.
After wet weather seriously affected Friday's schedule, 19-times TT winner McGuinness continued his recent short circuit form in qualifying on Saturday when weather conditions were a lot more favourable.
Ending the two sessions in 8th, McGuinness lined up on the second row of the grid for Sunday's 14-lap race and a good start saw him go into the first corner in a strong 6th.
However, the next two corners saw him get pushed wide and he completed the first lap in 15th. With lap times throughout the field extremely close, moving forward proved difficult, although a safety car period allowed the pack to bunch back up.
Moving up to 14th, McGuinness was looking to progress further, but his hopes were dashed when the race was stopped due to an incident with five laps still to run.
McGuinness said:
“Oulton's one of my favourite circuits, as well as being my local one, so having placed so well in qualifying, I was looking for more of the same in the race. A top 10 result was the least the team and I deserved this weekend and after making a really good start, I was confident of challenging the top six.”
“No sooner had I gone into the first corner though, I was being pushed wide and that put me off line for the next section down the Avenue and into Cascades. There were some really desperate moves being pulled out there and it was a battle just to stay on track and although I regrouped, by that time I was mired deep in the pack.”
“It's such a tough class that it's hard to fight your way back from that, but I kept going and if it wasn't for the red flag, I'm sure I would have been knocking on the door of the top 10.”
“It's not what any of us wanted, but we'll come back stronger at Brands next time out. It's another of my favourite circuits so I'll be firmly aiming at the top six once more.”
McGuinness travelled to Oschersleben, Germany, immediately after Oulton for a test session with the Honda TT Legends World Endurance team in preparation for the forthcoming World Championship rounds both there and at Suzuka, Japan.