John McGuinness endured a disappointing day on the Isle of Man on Wednesday when he was forced to retire from the second Supersport before taking fourth in the single lap TT Zero race, a race he’d been hoping to win.

The Morecambe Missile had been fastest in practice on the Mugen Shinden and the race for electric-powered machines started well as he swept through Glen Helen with a lead over team-mate Bruce Anstey. That lead had increased as he leapt Ballaugh Bridge but as he jumped Ballacrye shortly afterwards the machine stopped and he pulled up at Quarry Bends.

However, he eventually managed to get going after discovering the emergency stop button under the seat had been accidentally activated when he landed at Ballacrye. By that time, he’d lost almost four minutes and although he was able to finish the lap, the time lost meant he missed out on the podium altogether in fourth.

McGuinness was earlier out of luck in the four-lap Supersport race also, stopping at Braddan Church on the third lap. The race had been delayed by swirling mist around parts of the island and an opening lap of 124.345mph had seen John slot into tenth place on the Jackson Racing Honda.

Second time around, John quickened his pace to 125.583mph which allowed him to overhaul Gary Johnson for ninth but although his pit stop went smoothly as always, he only got two miles into his third lap when he was forced to stop at Braddan.

John McGuinness: “It hasn’t been my day today and it’s been disappointing especially the TT Zero race. We’ve been testing in Japan and put a lot into it so to only finish fourth after all the effort that’s gone into it is a real shame. The bike was flying up until Ballacrye and when I stopped I just pressed as many buttons as I could to try and re-start.”

“I eventually got going but I’d lost too much time but well done to my team-mate Bruce (Anstey) for winning the race. The 600 race was also disappointing but on the third lap, the engine started to rattle a bit and I had to stop in that too. That’s the TT for you so I’ll come out fighting on Friday.”

John’s final race is the six-lap Senior on Friday where he’ll be back on board the Honda Racing CBR1000RR.

Photo - John leaves the start line during the TT Zero race.  Courtesy of Stephen Davison – Pacemaker Press International.