Morecambe’s John McGuinness took his 22nd victory at the Isle of Man TT races when he won Wednesday’s TT Zero in record breaking style.
Riding the Mugen Shinden Honda in the single lap race, John enjoyed a race long tussle with team-mate Bruce Anstey with both enjoying a spell in the lead but as the race entered it’s second half, John began to edge away.
Sure enough, he took the chequered flag four seconds clear of Anstey and did so with a new lap record of 119.279mph for the electric-powered motorbikes. It was his 22nd TT victory and 43rd podium since he made his debut in 1996.
The 43-year old was then back in action in the afternoon’s four-lap Supersport race where he was on board the 600cc Jackson Racing Honda once more. An opening lap of 124.111mph put the Morecambe Missile into ninth place and for the remaining three laps, he was locked in battle with team-mate Conor Cummins and fellow Honda rider Dan Kneen.
All three riders were going for seventh place with all three taking their turns in the position. A lap of 124.833mph on the second lap around the Mountain Course gave John the position but although he went quicker still on his final lap, at 125.542mph, he had to settle for eighth with Cummins getting the better of him by just 0.04s after 150 miles of racing!
John McGuinness: “I’m delighted to take another TT win and it’s unbelievable what the electric bikes are doing now. It doesn’t seem five minutes since I was watching Steve Hislop do 120mph on an RC30 so to almost do that now is phenomenal, particularly as the bike weighs 160 kilos. Conditions were perfect all the way round the course and it was a real pleasure to ride the bike again.”
“The 600 race was faultless and what’s not to enjoy when we’ve had a day like today. Sure, I’d like to be on the podium but I rode well, put in some good lap speeds and had no problems. We didn’t have the pace on the day to run at the front but that’s five finishes from five starts and the island’s buzzing so I’m happy enough.”
John’s final race of TT2015 will be in Friday’s 6-lap Senior.
Picture by Pacemaker Press International
