The Morecambe-based rider, who had qualified in seventh place, had a strong start and broke away with the front-running pack as the lights went out as the riders headed for the first turn. However, an incident on the second lap called for the deployment of the safety car and shortly after the restart McGuinness was in eighth.

Despite this, the 34-year-old rider concentrated on a consistent performance at the 2.35-mile track. He finished in sixth place in an incident-packed race as the fastest circuit in Britain lived up to its name and hosted one of the most competitive rounds so far this season.

At the end of the 18-lap race the Stewards imposed a time penalty of twenty seconds on the race winner for a careless move, which ultimately promoted McGuinness to fifth.

The National Superstock rider now lies in sixth place in the overall standings with a total of 29 points.

McGuinness: “I have ridden some hard and fast races and that certainly was one of them. The pace of this championship is phenomenal and I am really pleased with the result today. We are certainly heading in the right direction with the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and all the team are with happy with the overall progress. To race at Thruxton and come away with a strong result is always good.”

Neil Tuxworth: “We are defiantly moving in the right direction with the Superstock bike. We have a bit more work to do on it and we are all pleased with today. The results speak for themselves, each time John has raced we have a better result and we are pleased with the overall progress.”

Superstock Result
1, Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) 24m54.740s, 2, Steve Brogan (Yamaha) +0.066s, 3, John Laverty (Suzuki) +0.320s, 4, Luke Quigley (Suzuki) +7.186s, 5, John McGuinness (HM Plant Honda) +7.392s, 6, Lee Jackson (Kawasaki) +10.141s, 7, Aaron Zanotti (Suzuki) +10.746s, 8, Jon Boy Lee (Yamaha) +11.234s, 9, Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) +13.777s, 10, Brendan Roberts (Suzuki) +14.483s.

Metzeler National Superstock Championship Standings (after round 3)
1, Brendan Roberts 47pts
2, Lee Jackson 43pts
3, Steve Brogan 38pts
4, Craig Fitzpatrick 32pts
5, John Laverty 31pts
6, John McGuinness 29pts
7, Hudson Kennaugh 28pts
8, Adrian Coates 20pts
=, Adam Jenkinson 20pts
=, Luke Quigley 20pts