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Brilliant podium at Brands for McGuinness

by isleofman.com 8th April 2013
Morecambe’s John McGuinness got his 24th season of road racing up and running in superb style on Sunday when he took a brilliant third in the opening round of the National Superstock 1000cc Championship and it was only a slide at mid-race distance cost him the race win around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
 
John’s participation in the event was in doubt up until a few days before the event but he wasted little time on the Padgetts Honda in the opening qualifying to top his session, despite arctic conditions. The weather, and temperature, improved on Saturday but John was still comfortable and although he got overhauled on the timesheets by Adam Jenkinson, a time of 47.402s was good enough for second in the group and third overall in the 58-rider field.
 
Starting from the front row was the ideal place to be around the tight and twisty Indy circuit and John took full advantage in Sunday’s 24-lap race, immediately taking the lead going into the first corner. Riding better than ever, John extended his lead over each of the next ten laps with the gap to second placed Adam Jenkinson over two seconds at half race distance. It would be unlucky lap 13 for John though as he suffered a major slide coming onto the start and finish straight which almost pitched him over the handlebars.
 
It reduced his lead to 1.2s and as he regrouped and got back into his rhythm, the chasing pack seized their opportunity to close back up. With three laps to go, John still led but Jenkinson made his move on lap 21 with Filip Backland following suit a lap later. It pushed John back to third but he came home 0.9s behind race winner Jenkinson for a brilliant podium finish, the ideal start to his season.
 
Speaking later, a delighted John said; “What can I say, it was a brilliant race and given the fact we only put a late entry in a few days before the event, to end up third is a dream start to the year for both me and the team. I’ve been testing quite a lot with the Honda TT Legends team so felt good straightaway on Friday and that form carried on throughout the weekend. I thought the other boys would overhaul me once they got dialled in but tt didn't happen and the front row was the ideal place to be.”
 
“I made the perfect start and immediately opened up a gap and a two-second advantage around the short Indy circuit is worth almost double that. I was able to maintain a consistent pace and my lead stayed the same but on lap 13, I got a huge slide coming on to the start and finish straight. My feet were on the floor, I was pushed into the tank and almost thrown over the handlebars and as I got back into my rhythm, the others saw their opportunity and reeled me in. Had it not been for that, I’m confident I could have held on for the win but I’m delighted to be back on the box and it’s credit to the whole team that we could pitch up and be so strong each and every time we took to the track.”
 
John now heads to the Isle of Man on Tuesday for the official launch of the 2013 TT Races.
 
Picture by Glynne Lewis.
Posted by isleofman.com
Monday 8th, April 2013 03:37pm.

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