McGuinness rolls back the years with North West 200 podium
John McGuinness MBE has celebrated 30 years of competing at the International North West 200 by claiming third place in Saturday’s Superstock race, his 22nd podium at the event, and his first since 2012.
The Morecambe rider arrived at the venue – held on the high-speed 8.97-mile circuit linking the Northern Ireland towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush – in fine form, having enjoyed a strong outing in the Pirelli National Superstock round at Oulton Park the previous weekend and continued on the Superstock-spec Honda Fireblade for the entire NW200 meeting.
With good weather on the Causeway Coast during qualifying, John’s good form continued as he lapped at 121.417mph in the Superstock class and 121.346mph in the Superbike category to post the sixth and seventh fastest times, respectively.
Thursday evening’s 4-lap Superbike race got proceedings underway, with John taking a fine seventh after a race-long battle with fellow Honda riders Conor Cummins and James Hillier. He was soon back out on track for the first Superstock race, again held over four laps. On this occasion, John again battled Hillier, with fifth place the outcome.
Saturday saw the entire course bathed in sunshine, and although he was forced to retire from both six-lap Superbike races, where he set a new personal best lap of 122.169mph, the undoubted highlight was the Superstock race held over the same distance. As they had been all week, there was little to choose between John and Hillier, but this time, John came out on top, overhauling his rival on the final lap to claim a brilliant and extremely popular third-place finish.
John McGuinness
“It feels amazing to finish third today and I never thought finishing on the podium would happen again. I’ve kept fighting, kept pushing, kept sharp and there’s still plenty of fire in the belly.
“The hunger’s as strong as ever and I felt like Joey Dunlop out there, there were that many people waving their programmes at me! I’m lapping quicker than ever and when the sun’s shining, there’s nowhere like it.
“In Saturday’s Superstock race, I had a real good ding dong with James (Hillier), as I did all week, but when we caught a slower rider on the last lap, he went to the right, I went to the left and I came out better off.
“I could hear the noise of the crowd over the sound of the engine and it’s very humbling, so it means a lot to me.
“A lot of time and effort has gone into everything, and a lot of people have stuck by me so it’s quite emotional to finish back on the podium after all these years.”
John’s next stop is the Isle of Man, where he’s been victorious 23 times, with practice around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course getting underway on Monday May 27th.
