Six of the best for Honda
John McGuinness secured a place for himself and Honda in the Isle of Man TT record books as he won the delayed opening race in the Centenary festival.
It was the Lancastrians’s 12th, and for Honda the win 131 in the Isle of Man.
Riding the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR, the 34-year-old Morecambe rider was always in control of the race despite his early anxieties about damp patches on parts of the 37.73 mile Mountain Course.
For Honda, it was total domination as their riders packed the top six finishing positions, but it was McGuinness who took pride of place as he won the race at a record speed of 125.550mph, also upping the Superbike lap record to 128.279mph on the second lap.
McGuiness said:
'I got my head down and went for it, riding as hard as I could, though being a bit careful in the damp bits. I had a few moments on the first lap including a big slide at the thirteenth milestone when the back end of the bike came round on me, but I kept it going.'
'It's unbelievable. I'm not getting any younger and they made me work for this one. I'd trained hard all winter to be ready for them and it is well worth it all. I had to ride really hard and gave it everything. In places it was a bit damp, and they are not really my conditions, but here we are and enjoying it.'
'To win this race is a tremendous feeling. It will go do in the history books as the first win in the Centenary event and that means an awful lot for me and for Honda, this victory is a testament to their preparation.'
McGuinness, who now lies third in the list of all time winners, adrift of Joey Dunlop (26) and Mike Hailwood (14), was given a tremendous reception by the 50,000, now sun-drenched, spectators.
He said:
'I've never seen so many. Seeing them all there waving to my on that last lap left me feeling really emotional. Winning is always special, this one is even more so. I'm just glad that I could put on such a show for them and give them the victory.'
Guy Martin gave his all and took a worthy second place, his best finish on the TT, with Hutchinson a solid third and running some 19 seconds ahead of Martin Finnegan aboard the Alpha Boiler Honda CBR1000RR. Ian Lougher, riding a similar bike in Stobart Colours was fifth from Ryan Farquhar on the Mark Johns Motors backed Fireblade.
Martin said:
'I'm not here to make the numbers up and wanted to win but happy enough with second. Looking back I didn't push hard enough on the first lap - I've got a lot to learn but Friday's Senior race is the one to win.'
'You're nobody till you've won a six lapper. John is the man around here, and he had the better pit stops.'
Dave Molyneux, returning to the TT after a big crash in practice for last year's event, became the second 12-times winner as he and Rick Long charged through from fourth on the opening lap to win the three lap sidecar race by some 6.5 seconds aboard their HM Plant Honda powered outfit.
Moly said:
'It's a weird feeling to take the win - I rode my heart out and have never been so committed as I was into the corners here during that race. I was determined after the crash of last year, but had problems through practice and expected Nick Crowe to have the race in the bag.'
'This was the most unexpected win in my career.'
John Holden and Andrew Winkle, LCR Suzuki, led for much of the race, after the demise of last year's double winner Nick Crowe on the opening lap because of a gearbox problem. Molyneux was running second going into the final lap and grabbed the initiative on the dash into Ramsey, increasing his advantage over Holden over the Mountain section. Steve Norbury and Scott Parnell were third on their Shelbourne Yamaha.