McGuinness set for Ulster with Bird and Stobart.

John McGuinness will line up at the Ulster Grand Prix next month in the colours of the Paul Bird-run Stobart Honda team and the Morecambe man has one thing on his mind and one thing only - winning.

After having a few weeks away from the sport following his split with the AIM Racing squad, whom he had given two TT Superbike victories, McGuinness got talking to good friend, and ex-sponsor, Bird and a deal was soon struck. He will have one of the team's full CBR1000 Honda RR Superbikes at his disposal and will go into the meeting with every chance of taking the feature races.

After putting in two scintillating performances on the R1 Yamaha at the TT, the Knockhill British Superbike round in late June proved to be the final straw for John as the machine again let him down before the race had even started. Having given 100 per cent to Alistair Flanagan's team since the beginning of the season, McGuinness left the team just a few days later and, after considering his options, began to start laying the foundations for the rest of the year, beginning with the Stobart Honda ride.

Speaking about the month ahead and about racing in general he commented: "I'm really motivated to put on a good show at the Ulster and am determined to take at least one of the Superbike wins. Paul's been a mate for a long time now so it didn't take long for us to sort the ride out and we're both going with the intention of winning. It's one of the best teams in the paddock and Michael Laverty has proved what an awesome bike it is so I can't wait to get to Dundrod. It will be Paul's first time with a team at the Ulster so it's good for everyone involved and proves how committed we both are.

"After the TT, I was quite drained and dejected, especially after what had happened to Gus, and things with AIM Racing weren't working out. I was riding my heart out at BSB for little reward and I didn't feel like I was
getting the support or back-up required. I stayed professional at all times but, despite what happened at the TT, nothing was changing so I decided to take a step back and start looking towards the future. I've been keeping busy since then and had offers from three BSB teams for the Ulster which shows that people in the paddock still have faith in me and want me to ride for them. That's been a tremendous boost for me and I've used this to my advantage, allowing me to be more fired up than ever."

"I've read and heard quite a lot of rubbish recently about how I'm finished and was about to call it a day but I can categorically state that nothing could be further from the truth," he added. "As I said I'm looking forward and have already got a test session lined up with a BSB team with a view to riding for them for the remainder of the season. I've also been talking to people about 2006 for both the circuits and the roads and I can guarantee that you'll be seeing me at the TT, North West and Ulster next year. I'm a professional racer and there's no way that John McGuinness is finished yet - not by a long way."

The Ulster Grand Prix gets underway in two weeks time on Wednesday August 10 and McGuinness is also hopeful of securing both Supersport and Superstock machinery for the event. News on this, as well as the possible BSB deal for the final part of the 2005 season, will hopefully be announced soon.