Morecambe’s John McGuinness put in a fighting performance in round 7 of the British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park on Sunday but it was a case of déjà vu for the Padgett’s Honda rider as he again finished in 16th place to once more miss out on some championship points.
 
The Cheshire circuit endured a mixture of conditions over the 2 days of practice and qualifying but with final qualifying held in the dry, John was able to put in a time of 1m40.593s to claim 13th on the grid. He was just over a second off pole position, which again highlighted the competitiveness of the 600cc class this season.
 
In the race itself, John got bumped back to 17th on the opening lap and although he was riding as hard as he possibly could, he was unable to make an impression on the riders in front of him. The status quo was maintained throughout the race and, indeed, it proved to be one of the more lacklustre Supersport races as very little overtaking took place and it ended up being a lonely race for John. With Paul Young retiring on the 11th lap, he was promoted up to 16th and here he remained as he took the chequered flag after 16 tough laps.
 
Talking back in the paddock, a disappointed John said:
 
“I couldn’t have ridden any harder than what I did in that race but, for some reason, it’s just not happening for me on the short circuits this year. I’m pushing hard and feel like I’m riding well but unfortunately, the lap times aren’t reflecting that. As I’ve said before, the class is probably the hardest it’s ever been and it’s tough out there but the bike and team are working well so it’s just down to me to work harder.”

 
“The short circuit season has been a major disappointment for me, to say the least, and to not have scored a point yet is tough to swallow. We’ve got a three week gap now before the next round so I’ll sit down and have a good, hard think about the job to see how we can move forward and, hopefully, salvage some results before the season’s out.”