McGuinness made it a Superbike double on the island this afternoon
By David Miller
Image by Tony Goldsmith
Shoei man John McGuinness has bagged his 17th career TT victory on the Isle of Man this evening, taking the Senior TT win and once again denying Guy Martin with Supersport race one winner Bruce Anstey in third place.
McGuinness took the lead on lap two and never looked back while Relentless Suzuki’s Martin had a scrap on his hands with Anstey for the runner-up spot, losing it briefly on the run into the second pit-stops but the rhythm-less Anstey couldn’t keep up the pressure.
As it has been all week, McGuinness was away first down the Glencrutchery Road wearing the number one plate followed by team-mate Keith Amor and Martin, and it was the Lincolnshire man who led as they went through Geln Helen for the first time with a 0.33s lead over Gary Johnson and Anstey as McGuinness found himself relegated to fourth on a section he is usually fastest.
Martin set an outrageous pace, upping the gap to 2.55s over Anstey in second at Ballaugh while Johnson and McGuinness were within a second of each other for third and Michael Dunlop fighting with brother William for fifth.
Such was the Suzuki man’s pace, he was nearly five seconds clear at the Bungalow but McGuinness was catching Anstey while Johnson made fourth his own, dropping M-Lop while Amor started to come back into the top five.
Martin set a 131.038mph lap as they crossed the line for lap two but Anstey had stabilised the gap to just under five seconds while McGuinness had cut the Kiwi’s advantage to a little over 1.5s as Johnson and M-Lop began to drop back.
Anstey and McGuinness lapped at a very similar pace for the whole of lap two and had reduced Martin’s lead to four seconds as they came into the pits for the first round of stops but a slow refuel from Anstey saw McGuinness snatch second as they headed towards St Ninians for a third time.
It took the Lancashire man until Ramsey to pass Martin and he headed up the Mountain with a 0.06s lead which was the same at the Bungalow. However, McGuinness got the hammer down on his way down the Mountain and he started lap four with a 2.56s lead while Anstey began to cut Martin’s advantage for second. Amor had also got a wriggle on and was just a second behind M-Lop for fifth but it emerged the Ballymoney man had run straight on at Ballacraine.
McGuinness then showed his class and consistency, increasing his lead as they completed lap four as Anstey contined to close in on Martin while Amor, M-Lop and now Cameron Donald were all in the mix for fourth place.
As the second round of pitstops began, McGuinness registered a lap of 131.248 while Anstey finally passed Martin on corrected time but lost it again on the re-fuel and went through Glen Helen five seconds down on Martin.
From there, McGuinness rode to his pitboards, keeping Martin and Anstey well in control while the fight for fourth was between Amor and Donald. The pair swapped places on lap six but the Australian was back in front as they took the chequered flag.
M-Lop finished in sixth place ahead of yesterday’s Supersport race winner Johnson. W-Lop was eighth, James Hillier ninth and Michael Rutter rounded out the top ten. Newcomer Simon Andrews finished in 11th place with a fastest lap of 125.174mph.
K-Dub taking a short-cut
We all know that Shoei rider Kevin Windham has a pilot license and likes to fly in his plane. But look at this video from the opening of the Las Vegas Supercross 2011. We think he’s trying to get his bike higher than he takes the plane – not bad Kevin!
Newcomer Simon Andrews in action yesterday
By Edgar Jessop in The Railway
Image by www.iomtt.com
Wednesday evening saw a number of the major contenders run into trouble - Michael Dunlop stopped at Ginger Hall, Ryan Farquhar pulled in at Sulby for a spot of overheating before proceeding, John McGuinness stopped at the Mountain Box and Ian Lougher retired at the Creg.
McGuinness tried some different tyre compounds and suspension settings last night on the Superbike which didn’t work so he’s going to go back to Tuesday’s settings tonight. He went out on the stocker but the clutch was slipping so pulled in straightaway, then went out on the 600 but that started misfiring at Ramsey so he pulled in at the Bunglow before carrying on (hence the 96mph lap). By the time he got back to the pits, the clutch had been sorted on the stocker so he went back out and did 123mph+.
Team-mate Keith Amor will sit out this evening’s session after bashing the AC joint in his shoulder. The Scot had a slow-speed off at Quarterbridge. He Tweeted: “The specialist has seen me and said have a day off and I can ride on friday so fingers crossed!”
William Dunlop was delighted to have posted his best ever lap of the Mountain Course – 125.872mph – but admitted ‘It was a great lap and everything felt really comfortable but I’m not quite sure where I’m going to find the other 5mph from!”
Brother Michael admitted to be suffering a number of handling issues with the new ZX-10 Superbike but when asked how he was going to overcome them, his answer was simple ‘ “keep it flat out.”
McGuinness, Gary Johnson and Keith Amor tried a new tyre combination but all three went slower.
Newcomer Simon Andrews almost broke the 120mph barrier on his third night of practice, with a best lap of 119.485mph, and was delighted with his progress. “That was a wicked lap and real good fun. The BMW is handling like a dream and it’s a real pleasure to ride but we keep running out of petrol on the second lap. It died out of both the Creg and Governors so we need to sort that out. The only problem I had was with the low sun and that makes it tricky to see where you’re going.” Straight down the sliproad at Signpost, Si…
Conor Cummins is heading for Jurby airfield today to see if he can cure his Superbike’s ‘problem’ with some straight-line testing.
Klaus Klaffenbock and Daniel Sayle were quickest in the sidecar class but Sayle reported there was a considerable amount of Manx wildlife out on the course – “There’s birds flying around and all sorts, I saw some geese on the track at one point!”
John Holden, whose Suzuki engine was running too lean on Tuesday evening, went too far the other way on Wednesday and found it to be running too rich.
Byrne on the grid before race two. The eyes have it…
By David Miller
Image by Double Red
HM Plant Honda’s Shane Byrne says he is pleased with his win and podium in yesterday’s Thruxton British Superbike races given it was the first time he had ridden the bike in the wet and added he could have gone faster in the second race.
The two-time champion, who increased his series lead over John Hopkins at the Hampshire circuit, had serious vision problems in the first outing where he was mugged by Michael Rutter into the last corner but no such issues in the second which he won by a country mile.
“That was the first time I had ridden the HM Plant Honda Fireblade in the wet conditions and I have to say it was great. I had some real vision problems with my visor and to be honest I couldn’t read my pit board and I only knew it was the last lap because I saw the flag on the start line,” said the Kent man.
“I thought ‘oh no it’s the last lap’ and I couldn’t have pushed it any harder. I had a good battle with Michael (Rutter). Race two was a bit easier as I started from pole rather than the back of the grid! After the first race I was desperate to get to the front and just ride my own race.
“I was smoother and the bike was on rails so I couldn’t have been happier. The track was quite grippy and once I got to the front I was comfortable and in a rhythm. I think I could have even gone faster if I pushed a bit but it has been a great weekend and all credit to the team. I can’t wait for Knockhill now.”
By David Miller at Thruxton
Image by Double Red
MSS Colchester Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes has dedicated his debut British Superbike pole position to Shoei Man Stuart Easton, the man for whom he is standing in this weekend.
Lowes blasted to his and the team’s first ever pole at Thruxton this afternoon as Easton recovers from a successful operation to pin his broken legs and pelvis in Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital.
“It is just an awesome feeling, mega. In each of the sessions, I was able to go faster and that really is a testament to the work that had been put in on the bike by Stuart,” said Lowes.
“This is for Stuart – we all want to get him back out there on track as soon as possible. This will give him a lift, as he has done all of the development work on the bike to make this possible and it will do the whole team good.
“It has not been easy since his crash for the team, seeing one of your own badly injured, as they are like a big family. Now I have to a good job for all of them in these races.”
12/05/2011
Camier is not happy about the constant stoppages
By David Miller at Bike Sport News
Image by Paul Sturman
Alitalia Aprilia’s Leon Camier has suffered a problem-infested World Superbike test at Misano with technical gremlins ensuring he spent more time sitting in the garage than out banking laps on the RSV4.
The former British Superbike Champion, whose Monza race weekend was so full of woes that he wasn’t even able to do a practice start in morning warm-up, has been further halted by problem after problem – with techncians not being able to figure out causes.
“It’s incredibly frustrating as it is never the same thing twice, it’s always another problem and no-one seems to be able to pin down what’s causing it all. I couldn’t get into a rhythm at Monza and I couldn’t at Misano,” said Camier, speaking to bikesportnews.com on his way to the airport.
“This last two days I have been in and out of the garage. I haven’t been able to put in any long runs, let alone do any of the meaningful tyre testing that Max and Checa have done. I’m going to America early so I can chill out and try not to think about it too much.”
It’s fantastic to finally see a girl in one of the top motorcycle racing classes. Therefore we are extremely happy to see our female rider Jenny Tinmouth competing in the British Superbike Championship.
Jenny Tinmouth. Showing the boys how it's done...
We think you’d agree that Jenny is one of few riders that still look good without a Shoei helmet on their head…
Eugene Laverty (Photo: Niko Schneider)
Our Shoei Superbike rider Eugene Laverty was able to get his first podium in the first race at the WSBK meeting in Monza this weekend. And, almost unbelievable, he decided to climbed the top position, immediately.
He seems to have enjoyed being on the upper place on the podium so much that he took 1st place in the 2nd race, too. Perfect result. Can´t get any better than that Eugene!
Check his website. – there’s loads on there. …He even has an own Eugene Laverty Iphone app!
..And if that’s not all…
Chaz Davies, seriously flying on the Yamaha R6 (Photo: Niko Schneider)
Chaz does it Again… To make it even better for Shoei, long time Shoei rider Chaz Davies put on a riding masterclass to take victory in the World Supersport race at Monza this afternoon, mirroring Eugene Laverty’s run in the opening WSB race, to cross the line more than five seconds in the lead.
The Welshman led into the first chicane and didn’t look back, taking the laurels for the second race in a row with team-mate Luca Scassa in second and veteran Fabien Foret, on the Ten Kate Honda, in a distant third place. Davies is now joint series leader with Scassa.
Congratulation guys for a great Shoei weekend!
Check out the video above of the Kawasaki Racing Team 2011 with our riders Xavier Boog and Jonathan Barragan.
Hill grabs his arm mid-crash
By David Miller at Oulton Park
Image by Impact Images
Swan Yamaha’s Tommy Hill will take no further part in today’s British Superbike action at Oulton Park after tearing ligaments in his left shoulder during a morning warm-up crash.
The series leader highsided on fluid left by Loris Baz’s Motorpoint Yamaha on the exit of Brittens during the second lap of this morning’s 20-minute session and will be out for at least three weeks.
“The injury is stage three and that usually needs an operation but I’m going to wait and see. I think I will have to miss Croft and come back for Oulton. But I don’t want a niggling injury for the rest of the season so. Just when it was all going so well, this goes and happens, but the new points system might play into our hands now as we can drop a round,” said Hill speaking to bikesportnews.com in his garage this lunchtime as Loris Baz came to apologise.
“I had just come out of Brittens and was pushing it left when I caught a glimpse of a yellow flag out of the corner of my eye. When you see a yellow, you always roll off it a bit and there was no-one on the track but then it spat me off and there was nothing I could do. It was a big crash and I’m really sore now. I was ok before but it is really starting to hurt.”
It is a double blow for the Hill family after younger version Jimmy smashed his wrist highsiding out of the first Supersport race yesterday on lap one.
