IOMTT: McGuinness Takes 18th TT Win in Superbike Race

Honda TT Legends rider John McGuinness has further solidified his status as King of the Mountain by claiming his 18th Isle of Man TT win today in the Dainese Superbike Race. First onto Glenclutchery Road, McGuinness took charge of the Superbike race immediately, despite a challenge from Cameron Donald in the early laps. Getting the full-team effort, McGuinness had two extremely quick pit stops, which helped put some distance between him and the Australian, and eventually went on to win the race by a comfortable 14 second margin.

“We came here off the back of a great North West 200 and we just hit the ground running. I set off number one, I had a clear road and there wasn’t anybody there to trip me up,” explained McGuinness. “I got stuck in from the start and when I saw that Cameron was in front of me at the end of lap one I just knew I needed to dig deep.

“Our crew in the pits are fantastic,” he continued with praise. “They seem to have a magic wand that gets me out of there five seconds faster than anyone else so this is big credit to them. To compete in the TT and to finish a TT is incredible; to win one is amazing but to win 18, well I’m just lost for words.”

Breaking his 130 mph cherry, Donald had a very comfortable margin over third place, which for the first half of the race was held by Guy Martin. Losing time in the latter stages of the race due to the fact the team couldn’t change his rear tire because a rear-axel malfunction, Martin finally was overtaken by Bruce Antsey during their second pit stop, even though Antsey had a hiccup while getting started again as well.

“On those first two laps we’d no real problems worth mentioning but after the pit stop we had a couple of small issues that dropped us off John and Cameron’s pace,” said Martin. “By the time the rear wheel spindle caused a problem we were out of the race for the win and I just rode it to the finish. The general handling and performance of the new GSX-R1000 is very good. I know I can do the speeds, as we proved on that first lap and the team can do the business, so we’re still in with a chance in the Senior.”

Unfortunately Simon Andrews had a high-speed off on the first lap. Conscious after the crash, the Honda TT Legends rider was taken to the hospital where it was discovered that he had cracked his shoulder, and broken both his wrist and ankle.

Local hero Conor Cummins was a scratch for the first race of the TT, citing too much pain in his still mending hand. Cummins suffered the injury in the North West 200, after coming together with Gary Johnson. “It was the correct decision,” explained Cummins. “I’m obviously gutted but it’s all about giving the hand time. I’ve noticed the change in just one day and it has helped the swelling to go down and the bruising is a lot less.”

Full race results for the Dainese Superbike Race at the 2012 Isle of Man TT can be found here.