No end of season cheer for John McGuinness

Raceline Photography
By Phil Wain
October 15 2005

Despite, having announced his 2006 HM Plant Honda deal just days earlier, there was no joy for John McGuinness at the final round of the British Superbike Championship, at Brands Hatch over the weekend.

The Vitrans Racing rider retired from both of the 20-lap races in the early stages, much to his obvious disappointment, and not at all the way he wanted to end the 2005 BSB season.

Back on the 2.6-mile GP circuit, Saturday’s opening qualifying was promising, with John posting the 14th fastest time, in a session which saw the fastest ever motorcycle lap of the circuit. However, things went awry in the final session when a combination of not getting the best out of his qualifying tyre and being baulked by riders prevented him from going any higher. John set exactly the same time in the afternoon as he had in the morning, but he dropped back to 19th as a result and would start the two races from the fifth row.

With temperatures more akin to a summer’s day, John made a steady start in the first race to hold his position, but his race only lasted a quarter race distance, retiring from the fray on the fifth lap citing a lack of confidence in the front tyre. It was a similar story in the second 20-lap race and, after making a good start whereby he was on the fringe of the points, John pulled into the pits on the fourth lap after dropping back through the field, outside of the top 20.

After the meeting a dejected John said: “I really don’t know what to say about the weekend, it’s been one to forget for definite. I don’t know why but I just had no confidence in the bike in either race, and I felt like I was going to crash at every single corner. Although practice wasn’t the greatest I felt that points were a possibility, but as soon as I tried to up the pace in the races, I was nearly off the machine.”

“I feel really sorry for all of the guys in the team, as they’ve worked their backsides off all weekend and I couldn’t repay them with a result. I feel like I’ve let them down, but if I’d have carried on in each race, I’d have crashed without question. It’s certainly been a rollercoaster year with the wins at the TT and Ulster being the obvious highlights, but the short circuit campaign has been a bit of disaster. Obviously, the change in teams didn’t help, so I’m looking forward to a bit of a break before returning stronger in 2006. The deal with HM Plant Honda is brilliant at this stage in my career, and I want to prove to everyone that John McGuinness still has a lot to offer.”

John’s next outing is due to be aboard the Stobart Honda at the Sunflower Trophy meeting at Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland on Saturday, although team boss Paul Bird has yet to confirm their participation.