The second day of racing at the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races proved to be a tough day for Morecambe’s John McGuinness with a combination of his wrist injury and damp roads on the Mountain keeping him back in 15th place in the opening Supersport race.
 
Held over four laps of the Mountain Course, the race was delayed by over three hours due to overnight rain and fog and an opening lap of 121.706mph on the Valvoline Racing/Padgetts Honda meant John was in the unfamiliar position of 17th place.
 
Overhauled on the roads by James Hillier, John increased his pace to 122.789mph second time around which moved him up the order to 15th and, with rain falling over sections of the Mountain, here he remained for the rest of the race for another silver replica.
 
Although the 4-lap Superstock race was moved back to Tuesday afternoon, John was able to complete his day with a practice lap on the Mugen Shinden in preparation for Wednesday’s TT Zero race and posted a stunning lap of 115.60mph, almost 6mph quicker than the class lap record set twelve months ago.
 
Speaking later, a philosophical John said: “I’m a bit disappointed today and it’s another one I’ve got to take on the chin. I thought I’d be in a stronger position in the Supersport class than I was the Superbike race but it didn’t happen and 15th isn’t a position I’m used to. It just reflects where I am at the moment with my injury. We all want more and I’m struggling a bit with my confidence as well as with the injury so there’s a couple of things getting on top of me.”
 
“Despite all my years of racing here, it was hard to read the conditions over the Mountain and I couldn’t tell how wet it was. The rain was hitting my visor and screen so I gave it the benefit of doubt and backed off a bit. I thought I may have been able to do a better job today but the lads are riding the 600s so hard now I’m not really sure how I managed to lap at more than 127mph last year! I seem to be going through the motions a bit at the moment but I had an honest race and did the best I could on the day.”
 
“The Zero bike is a completely different proposition and with it not pulling you all over the place, it’s a joy to ride and reminds me of my 250cc days. It’s an honour and a pleasure to ride the bike and it put a smile back on my face this afternoon. To lap at more than 115mph is amazing and takes us into unchartered territory but there’s still more to come. The progress being made and the leaps forward are astonishing so I’m looking forward to the race on Wednesday.”
 
Before that though, John will be back in action on Tuesday when he’ll be riding the Valvoline Racing/Padgetts Honda’s in the 4-lap Superstock race.
 
Picture by Pacemaker Press International