By Phil Wain
March 27 2006

John McGuinness opened his National Superstock Championship campaign with a solid ride into eighth place at this weekend’s first round at Brands Hatch. Held on the 1.22-mile Indy circuit, the HM Plant Honda rider fought his way through the pack after dropping back to eleventh at one stage, and he ended the race just 1.6 seconds adrift of the fourth placed rider.

Official qualifying saw dry and wet conditions, respectively, in the two sessions and, although he had set the tenth fastest time, the two-group format meant he would line up in eighth place on the grid, good enough for a place on the second row. When the lights changed to green, John got away cleanly, but immediately found himself with no room at Paddock Hill Bend and, as the leading riders set a frenetic pace, he completed the opening lap in tenth place.

Holding station for the first half of the race, he was embroiled in a terrific ten-man dice for sixth, although the front five riders had already opened up a sizeable margin. With just eight laps to go he was pushed back to eleventh, but he overhauled Dan Hegarty, and with Steve Allan and Peter Ward falling by the wayside, he took the chequered flag in eighth place, to score eight championship points.

Speaking at the conclusion of the 26-lap race, the Morecambe rider said:
“I’m reasonably happy with today’s result and, although I’d obviously like to be higher, I’ve got some good, safe points and was able to run a good race pace. I got a good start, only to get boxed in at the first corner, and there was a lot of fairing bashing going on out there. I didn’t ride an awful lot in the second half of 2005, so I’m a little race rusty, but once I settled into a rhythm I was able to run a good pace and was fighting it out with some of the major championship contenders.

“The Honda FireBlade is working well, especially the chassis, and I’ve got a good feel for the bike, so I’m confident that I can be as fast as anyone. It’s a cut throat class, and you need to make some decisive moves, but now I know what I’ve got to do, and I’m looking forward to Donington and getting higher up the finishing order.”