Morecambe's John McGuinness made a successful return to Oliver's Mount, Scarborough on Sunday when he scored a brace of podiums in the two Superbike races. Riding the Padgetts Honda Superstock machine, John took a strong third in the opening Superbike race and followed this up with an identical result in the feature International Gold Cup race.

Having missed Saturday's races around the 2.43-mile public road circuit due to other commitments, John found himself a day behind his rivals but he soon got into the groove during the morning practice sessions and showed he'd be in contention when he qualified in second place for the 8-lap Gold Cup encounter.
 
With good conditions all around the woodland venue, the Superbike race was first up for John and a good start saw him grab the holeshot going into the tight Mere Hairpin. His lead was short-lived as Dean Harrison found a way by and then Guy Martin, on the Tyco Suzuki Superbike, pushed him back to third a lap later. There was little to choose between the front three for the next two laps but in the second half of the race Martin was able to us the extra power of his Superbike to edge away. John was secure in third though and took his first podium of the day.
 
Later in the afternoon, John was back on the front row for the Gold Cup race and a lightning start again saw him grab the holeshot and an early lead. This time though, he was to stay in front for longer and it wasn't until lap three that Harrison and Martin managed to overhaul him. Again, there was little to choose between the trio around the tight and narrow Oliver's Mount circuit and with all three riders lapping in the 1m45s bracket, the huge crowd were being thoroughly entertained. John duly crossed the line for his second third place of the day but it was close with just three seconds separating the top three.
 
John also participated in the parade laps for the recently retired Ryan Farquhar. The duo have enjoyed many battles on the roads since 1996 and when Ryan asked John, and a number of other top road racers, to join him on one of his KMR machines, John was only to happy to accept and pay tribute to his fellow racer.
 
Speaking afterwards a pleased John said; "It's been a really good day and I've had a great time riding round Oliver's Mount again. It was hard work being a day behind the other riders as they'd obviously had a lot more track time than me but I got stuck in and with plenty of laps under my belt during the day, I was happy with both my pace and results. The Superstock bike is really good off the line so I knew my best chance would be to get good starts in both races and that's what I did. Guy's Superbike was always going to have the upper hand though but I rode my heart out and enjoyed battling with both him and Dean, who really impressed me with his neat, tidy riding. He can ride a bike and has a big future in the sport for definite."
 
"It was also a pleasure to take part in the parade laps with Ryan and it was really good of him to invite me - it was a very nice gesture and I felt quite emotional being out there with him. We've had a lot of battles over the years, in all classes, and I've always had the utmost respect for him both on and off the track. He's been a class act and a top professional and what he's achieved in the sport deserves the ultimate praise so good on him. It's a shame he's retired as he's still very much on top of his game but I wish him all the best and hope he stays involved with the sport."

Picture by Stephen Davison - Pacemaker Press International