John McGuinness: I can still go faster

Isle of Man racing hero John McGuinness reckons he could still take at least another two or three seconds off his lap time without a repeat of the jump at Ballaugh Bridge that saw him put his crash helmet through his windscreen last night.

McGuinness, 37, set only the second 130mph lap in Wednesday night practice but lost time and speed because of the broken screen on his HM PLant Honda Fireblade.

He told MCN: “I don’t know what happened really because it felt the same as always but rather than a bit of a bump of my lid against the  screen it smashed. I lost two seconds straight away as I lifted off.

“I was definitely losing speed on the longer, faster bits like Sulby.

“I am feeling really relaxed at the moment and I don’t feel any pressure to go fast. It’s just flowing really well at the moment.”