John McGuinness topped the Superbike leaderboard last night for Saturday’s Kennedy International North West 200 race.
He and team-mate Steve Brogan spent the four hour practice session getting to grips with the nine-mile Triangle circuit, which is the debut pure roads event for the new-for-2008 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.
The final practice session is to be held this Thursday evening with racing taking place on Saturday 17th May. For more on the North West 200 races, go to:
www.northwest200.org, while details on coverage for this unique event can be found on:
www.bbc.co.uk/nw200.
John McGuinness – HM Plant Honda
Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade – 4m 25.377s (121.629mph)“This was the first time on the new Blade on the roads and we topped the leaderboard, so that’s not too bad, is it? The bike never missed a beat and it’s a real missile. It was the perfect evening: the sun was shining so I got stuck in from the start. The bike was in the ballpark straight away so I just stayed out there had some fun and did more than a race distance. Compared to the ’07 bike the new CBR1000RR feels faster, has more grunt but it also steers a little better and brakes better too: in fact it feels like a ridiculously fast 600!”
Steve Brogan – HM Plant Honda
Superstock – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade – 4m 44.741s (113.358mph)
Supersport – Honda CBR600RR – 4m 48.743s (111.787mph)“It was a real eye opener out there! You forget just how fast this track is until you come out of the Mill Road roundabout and just go flat-out and hang on all the way to University! It took time getting into it and I was probably a little eager: I was on the grass a couple of times at the slow chicanes and did a bit of a motocross jump over the start/finish line so then I decided to calm down! I’m not up there position-wise, but I’m getting back into the circuit and having fun. There’s no pressure on me as I know that I’ve got two short-circuit championships to concentrate on first and foremost. The Superstock bike is SO fast around here, meanwhile the 600 helped me relax a little more and felt a little more comfortable. I’m looking forward to more track-time on Thursday.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager“HM Plant Honda has had a very positive start to our North West 200 campaign. John is fast from the off – which is always good news – and Steve is making steady but solid progress. The real litmus test has been seeing both riders come back from the practice session with big smiles on their faces. We’re taking nothing for granted as we still have work to do and another practice session before Saturday’s races but it’s been a good start.”
