McGuinness tops the leaderboard for HM Plant Honda
 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.”
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