Morecambe's John McGuinness enjoyed a good weekend of racing at Oulton Park having a strong ride into seventh in round 2 of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship. The Padgetts Honda ace was never outside the top ten all weekend and the 9 points earned have seen him jump up to 7th overall in the Championship table.
The Cheshire circuit enjoyed three days of perfect conditions and John was on the pace throughout practice and qualifying, never being out of the top ten. Indeed, a lap of 1m40.391s placed him 7th after first qualiying and although he was shuffled back to 9th during Sunday's final session, he improved his lap time to 1m40.282s, he was well in touch with the top 6.
Subsequently, John and the team were in confident mood going into Monday's 15-lap race and a good first lap saw him consolidate his position but a lap later he was up to ninth and looking to advance further forward as he enjoyed a good three-man dice for ninth with Michael Booth and Luke Quigley. Booth pushed him back to 10th on lap 8 but with Howie Mainwaring crashing and team-mate Adam Jenkinson retiring on lap 12 he was promoted to 8th. He was also closing in on Quigley and, lapping comfortably quicker than his rival, and faster than what he'd gone in qualifying, he overhauled him on the final lap for a strong seventh place.
Speaking later, a pleased John said: "I'm really encouraged by this weekend and the result was very pleasing. The bike was mint from day one and Oulton's one of my favourite circuits so I was confident of a good result and we were strong throughout. Jimmy Storrar rubbed shoulders with me at the first corner and it unsettled me a bit whilst I also got something in my eye which made visibility a bit tricky in the early stages but I was happy with my lap times and could see Luke was tiring whilst I still felt fresh at the end of the race so it was good to get 7th on the final lap. Yes, it was a bit of shame I couldn't have gone with Booth but it was a good seventh place and I'd say it was one of my best short circuit rides since 2009. I'm feeling good on the bike and everything's working well so roll on the next round!"
Round 3 of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship takes place at Croft, North Yorkshire on May 13-15.
