By Phil Wain
May 22 2005

John McGuinness had his first road race outing of the year on Saturday, at the International North West 200, but the meeting didn’t bring the success the Morecambe rider had hoped for. Five races brought four retirements and just one solitary fifth place, leaving the AIM Racing team with a lot of work to do with the Isle of Man TT races literally just days away.

Practice was full of dramas, beginning when John’s number one Superbike engine blew up on Tuesday evening. Languishing down in 20th place, the team slotted in the second engine and he immediately shot up the order on Thursday. With perfect conditions all around the course, unlike Tuesday when there was strong wind and rain, a lap of 120.711mph saw him qualify in third for the Superbike races, just behind the two Hondas of Michael Rutter and Steve Plater. It could have been better still if he had not run out of fuel on his final flying lap, but he was more than happy with his grid position. Likewise in the Superstock and Supersport classes, where he was second and third fastest respectively, and the AIM Racing rider was in good shape for all five of his races.

Saturday morning dawned with clear blue sky and bright sun, but the day started off in the worst possible fashion for John, though, when the clutch went in the first Superbike race - even more disappointing as he had led into York Corner. A heavy rain shower delayed the first 600cc race and made tyre choice a lottery, so John exercised caution and, clearly not prepared to risk anything, he took things steady and held station in sixth place until lap four. He then overhauled Adrian Archibald to move into fifth, a position he held until the chequered flag.

The frequent showers blighted the remainder of the day and the road was soaking when the Superstocks left the line. John again made a good start from his front row position but sadly, for the second time in three races, he never got to complete a lap and, after touring through Metropole, he parked the machine just a few hundred yards later with rear tyre problems. It was unfortunately a similar story in the second 600cc race, John pulling into pit lane at the conclusion of the first lap. The final race of the day was the feature NW200 Superbike and, after a heavy hailstorm delayed the start, John got the holeshot but that was as good as it got. Second at the end of the opening lap, John and the Yamaha dropped back to eighth and retired from the race on the third lap, a lack of traction again the cause.

After what was an unhappy day a clearly dejected John said, “Without doubt today has been one of the most disappointing days of my career. Nothing went right for us, and we had a fair number of problems, so it’s definitely been one of my bad days. The heavy rain showers ruined it for everyone, and we suffered with rear end grip as a result. Our dry set-up was brilliant, and I felt really confident after practice, but we couldn’t find a tyre to last the distance in the damp conditions.”

“It was a day for one day ‘heroes’, and I just wasn’t prepared to push that hard with the TT just around the corner. I did my best to get fifth in the first 600cc race, but the bike still needs a bit of work on it, and the North West came a little bit too early. The team did their best all week and worked really hard, but it just wasn’t our day. The only positive to come out of it was that I was leading the second Superbike race when it was stopped! I’m still feeling confident for the TT though, as the bike is working really well in the dry, and I’m sure we will be there or thereabouts in each race. I love racing there and, although it’s going to be very tough, I’m hoping to increase my tally of six wins by at least one.”

John and the team now turn their attentions to the TT, arguably their biggest event of the year. After taking a fantastic hat-trick in 2004, as well as the absolute course lap record, John will be looking for more of the same, and hope that the luck that has deserted him thus far this season returns at the Isle of Man. The first practice session gets underway this Saturday evening.