Courtsey of Phil Wain -Freelance PR
Morecambe's John McGuinness was denied a potential 16th Isle of Man TT win on Saturday when he was forced to retire on the opening lap of the 6-lap Superbike race. The HM Plant Honda rider, second fastest in practice, had set a ferocious pace in the first few miles to lead on corrected time but his race was soon over, mechanical problems forcing him out on the Sulby Straight, half way round the Mountain Course
Picture by Stephen Davison - Pacemaker Press International
It was a long wait for McGuinness as heavy sea mist in Douglas delayed the start from its original start time of 12.00pm until 3.30pm but when the race did finally get underway, John put in his usual charge over the first 9 miles to lead the field as they swept through Glen Helen on the first lap. However, it was very close and the first official timing point had John just 0.08s clear of local hero Conor Cummins so it was very much 'game on'. However, as the riders passed through the speed trap in Sulby, it was clear all wasn't well as John was only timed at 136mph, some 50mph down on the speeds he'd be normally reaching. Sure enough, news soon came through that he had retired on the Sulby Straight and his race was over before it had even begun.
Speaking later, a hugely disappointed John said; "I'm absolutely gutted, there's no other word to use. I rode absolutely flat out for that first half of the lap and the bike was flying but as I got to Ballaugh, it started to lose all its power and that was that. It looks like it was the crank sensor and whilst I was able to ride the bike back to the pits, I could only rev the bike up to 6000-7000rpm as it just died if I revved the bike anything higher than that. I rode those first few miles to Glen Helen faster than I've ever gone before and, to be fair, I don't think I could do it any faster, but it was going to be a hell of a race so for it to be over before it had barely started was very disappointing.
That's the TT for you though so we'll be back on Monday to give it another go."
John will be back out on Monday on the Padgetts Honda's, competing in the Superstock and Supersport races, both being held over 4 laps.
