McGuinness at the NW200

storm42

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I was looking forwards to this but now there seems to be a problem, bugger.

The International North West 200
23 hrs ·


Statement from the organisers of the fonaCAB International North West 200 in association with Nicholl Oils re John McGuinness and Norton re the 2019 event.

The organisers of the 2019 fonaCAB International North West 200 in association with Nicholl Oils received an entry from John McGuinness dated 7th February, 2019 to compete for the Norton team in the May 12-18 races.
The entry specified the machine John was entered on for both Superbike races would have an engine capacity of 1000cc.
The entry was accepted on that basis and a recent announcement was made to the press that John would make his comeback to the North West 200 after a two year absence because of a leg injury sustained in 2017. The organisers were delighted at this prospect.

The organisers were subsequently informed on 26 March, 2019 by Norton that the engine capacity of the SG8 superbike they intend to race at the North West will be 1200cc. It does not, therefore, meet the current Technical regulations for the NW200 superbike races and would not be eligible for competition at the event.
John McGuinness and Norton CEO, Stuart Garner, have both been informed of that situation. It is hoped that a solution can still be found to resolve this issue before May and that both John McGuinness and Norton will take part in the 90th anniversary event.

Mervyn Whyte, MBE
NW200 Event Director.
 
I don’t think the 1200 will be allowed in the TT either, so it looks like another year with the Aprilia, unless they get their own race engine ready as a 1000 in time.

I don’t understand why John would want to race a 1200, nothing to learn from it and no honour or pride from racing a super bike in a moped race.
 
If you run it under FIM rules which is what the NW200 is run under then you have to follow :-

2.4.2 Engine configurations and displacement capacities The following engine configurations comprise the Superbike class.
Over 750cc up to 1000cc 4 stroke 3- and 4-cylinder
Over 850cc up to 1200cc 4 stroke 2-cylinder
The displacement capacity bore and stroke must remain at the homologated size.

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How is it that SG is blowing all this high dough on racing but didn't know this?
Did he think they would ignore the rules because of the Norton name?

Glen
 
I don’t think the 1200 will be allowed in the TT either, so it looks like another year with the Aprilia, unless they get their own race engine ready as a 1000 in time.

I don’t understand why John would want to race a 1200, nothing to learn from it and no honour or pride from racing a super bike in a moped race.

I guess the idea is to get John some useful road time in after his lay off.

Oh, and some publicity perhaps...
 
Aprilia's road RSV4 for 2019 is 1100cc, race engine is still 1000cc. Indian race flattracker is 750cc, road is 1200cc.
 
How is it that SG is blowing all this high dough on racing but didn't know this?
Did he think they would ignore the rules because of the Norton name?

Glen

They do know, from a 2016 article in the Motor Cycle News.

The high-end sportsbike is heavily based on the company’s TT racer and will feature a 72° V4 layout. Garner explained: “We went for 1200cc rather than 1000cc as we feel modern technology enables us to get the performance we want without compromising on weight or handling. And because we are not planning to race this bike, it doesn’t matter if it’s over 1000cc.
 
I guess the idea is to get John some useful road time in after his lay off.

Oh, and some publicity perhaps...

I guess so but whilst track time is important for John, I would have thought developing the motor they are going to race would be more important.
 
If they have one, MCN September 2017. I am starting to feel sorry for John McGuinness.

BSB beckons…
“The engine is capable of being designed as a 1000cc version, but it’s almost a new engine at that point. We’d have to do a lot of engineering to make that happen, but we always factored it into the design so that we could take it racing. So yes we could take it down to 1000cc and race it. Have we started? No. But we could do it. Who wouldn’t like to see that? Two Norton V4s racing two Ducati V4s… The crowds would double overnight. There might be other ways of racing it elsewhere, but BSB is where we’d want to be really.
 
I guess so but whilst track time is important for John, I would have thought developing the motor they are going to race would be more important.

As far as I can deduce at this point, Norton will campaign the Aprilia engine again at this years IOM.
 
Looks like it, they really need to run it at the NW then to give John more of a chance at the TT.
 
They do know, from a 2016 article in the Motor Cycle News.

The high-end sportsbike is heavily based on the company’s TT racer and will feature a 72° V4 layout. Garner explained: “We went for 1200cc rather than 1000cc as we feel modern technology enables us to get the performance we want without compromising on weight or handling. And because we are not planning to race this bike, it doesn’t matter if it’s over 1000cc.
With my tongue in cheek, it sounds like another SG cock-up!
 
McGuinness at the NW200
 
The change of engine was pointless, just lap practice. Hopefully the twin will do well in the face of stiff competition, though it will be way to late to change much prior to the TT. If they are wise, no matter the NW result they should go to the TT with minimal changes that would not require further track time for testing.
 
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