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Stobart VK Vent Axia
Honda rider John McGuinness was denied victory by the cruellest of
fortunes in today’s 41st running of the Macau Grand Prix
where he had to settle for second place.
The 34 year old from
Morecambe was riding for the Paul Bird Motorsport team in the Far
Eastern classic and was holding a slender lead when on the fifteenth
and final lap, the 13 times TT winner came upon some backmarkers at
the Melco Hairpin.
The 2001 winner had
to shut off the throttle to avoid a collision which allowed rival
Steve Plater through to snatch his second successive victory leaving
a bitterly disappointed McGuinness with the consolation of a new lap
record.
For team mate and
fellow TT winner Ian Hutchinson, it was a tale of disappointment
aboard the second of the Phil Borley-prepared Honda Fireblades. Now
recovered from a recently broken collarbone, the young Yorkshireman
was well in contention when his bike developed a misfire, which was
later traced to faulty fuel, and as a result, he was forced to
retire.
Team owner Paul Bird,
currently on holiday in Mauritius,
commented:
“I really feel for
the team out there, they’ve done a fantastic job and both John and
Ian have been incredibly unlucky. Once again, they proved that they
were the men to beat in practice and to come away without a win is
soul destroying. But then again, John never seems to have any luck
out there, I’ve told them both to go and drown their sorrows!”
Result:
1 Steve Plater – GB -
(AIM Yamaha)
37:03.845
2 John McGuinness – GB -
(Stobart VK Vent Axia Honda) 37:07.965
3 Thomas Hinterreiter
– AUT -
(Austria
Racing Team Yamaha) 37:14.236
4 Jeremy Toye -
USA
– (Lee's Cycles Suzuki) 37:45.996
5 Conor Cummins - IOM
– (DMR Yamaha) 37:49.495
6 Mark Miller -
USA
– (Corona Extra Honda)
37:54.405
7 Les Shand – GB –
(Honda - BTS Honda) 38:01.092
8 James McBride – GB
– (JV Yamaha) 38:09.873
9 Luis Carreira – POR
– (Benimoto Yoshimura Suzuki) 38:13.825
10 Martin Finnegan –
IRL – (MV Agusta) 38:14.274
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