McGuinness wins delayed Isle of Man TT Superbike race John McGuinness powered to victory in the delayed Isle of Man TT Superbike race, breaking the outright race record time as he chalked up his seventh success on the Island. The Morecambe rider was hot on the charge from the start, completing his first lap of the 37.73 mile Mountain Course in a remarkable time of 17m 59.94secs, an average speed of 126.879mph which was just the job to take him eight seconds clear. Ulsterman Richard Britton was riding strongly, and pushing hard aboard his Honda, but the unrelenting pace of McGuinness was giving him no opportunity to make up any ground, and as they pitted for the first of two pit-stops to change rear tyres and take on fuel the Yamaha rider had increased his lead to 19 seconds, maintaining an average speed of a little over 126 mph. Adrian Archibald, riding the TAS Suzuki was running third, but by the end of the third lap had moved ahead of Britton who was experiencing some machine problems that led to his eventual retirement from the race. McGuinness was having no problems, stretching his lead to 28 seconds at half distance, although on the fourth lap, Archibald matched his time to give some hope to his team of better things to come. However, a super-quick pit-stop by McGuinness gave him a seven seconds bonus on his rival, leaving him 35 seconds clear after five laps, and having sufficient advantage to even consider easing off a little on the sixth and final dash around the Island. “I decided to use the same tactics that earned me three wins last year that was to get my head down and go for it from the start, making a good break. The bike felt really strong, particularly over the Mountain.” His victory, by 36.3 seconds over Archibald came in a record time of 1hr 49m 25.74s, an average speed of 124.124 mph. “Brilliant, what else can I say it was a relatively trouble free all of the way there were on or two damp patches, and I had a slide or two, but nothing to worry about. “The organisers certainly made the decision by postponing the race from Saturday the conditions were horrible then, today they were 99.9% perfect.” Archibald had to settle for second best with Honda rider Martin Finnegan in third, some 76 seconds down on Archibald with Ian Lougher, also riding a Honda Fireblade, a further half minute back fourth, from the Yamaha of Ray Potter and Guy Martin on a Suzuki. Results Po / Name / Machine / Time 1 / John McGuinness / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 49′ 25.74″ 2 / Adrian Archibald / 1000 Suzuki GSXR / 1h 50′ 02.04″ 3 / Martin Finnegan / 1000 Honda CBR / 1h 51′ 18.16″ 4 / Ian Lougher / 1000 Honda CBR RR / 1h 51′ 42.70″ 5 / Raymond Porter / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 52′ 09.16″ 6 / GUY MARTIN / 1000 Suzuki / 1h 52′ 22.87″ 7 / Jason Griffiths / 1000 Yamaha / 1h 52′ 26.88″ 8 / Chris Heath / 998 Honda CBR / 1h 53′ 05.38″ 9 / Jun Maeda / 1000 Honda CBR RR / 1h 53′ 55.19″ 10 / Ian Armstrong / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 55′ 03.55″ 11 / Nigel BEATTIE / 1000 Yamaha / 1h 55′ 07.12″ 12 / GARY CARSWELL / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 55′ 23.25″ 13 / John Barton / 1000 Suzuki GSXR / 1h 55′ 32.99″ 14 / CHRIS PALMER / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 55′ 33.64″ 15 / PHILIP STEWART / 1000 Suzuki GSXR / 1h 56′ 01.32” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: TAS Suzuki’s Adrian Archibald raced his GSX-R1000 into second place behind John McGuiness at the weekend’s TT Superbike race on the Isle of Man. Third on the opening two laps of the 37.73-mile circuit, Archibald then tightened the screw on Honda mounted Richard Britton, pulling back a deficit of 13 seconds to move into second place which he held to the chequered flag, some 35 seconds down on McGuinness. TAS Suzuki Team mate Bruce Anstey had a difficult day and retired at the end of lap three after holding seventh place for the opening 76 miles. Adrian Archibald: “That was a good run and I’m more than happy with the GSX-R Superbike. I didn’t really get on the pace until lap three but once I pulled the time back on Richard I was pretty comfortable in second place. It’s a long week but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Superstock race where the GSX-R1000 Suzuki should not be too far away.” Bruce Anstey: “It didn’t really happen for me today and it’s disappointing to not finish after five podiums last year. We have no break now, so it’s straight into Monday’s racing with the Supersport and Superstock events and I’m quietly confident of giving TAS Suzuki a good result.” TT Superbike Results: 1. John McGuinness (Yamaha) 1 49 25.74. 2. Adrian Archibald (TAS Suzuki) 1 50 02.04. 3. Martin Finnegan (Vitrans Honda) 1 51 18.16.