UGP 'delight and disappointment' for McGuinness.

John McGuinness broke his Ulster Grand Prix duck on Saturday with a thrilling double victory at the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit.

The opening victory came aboard the Honda Racing CBR600 Honda in the first Supersport 600cc race by the slender margin of just 0.106 of a second and he then took a comfortable start-to-finish win on Roy Hanna's TSR Honda in the 250cc race.

The remainder of the day was blighted by constant rainfall and although he had other finishes of fourth and fifth, a third win looked very much on the cards in the feature Superbike race where he had opened up a lead on the Stobart Honda before the race was stopped.

The circuit was soaked for the second part of the race with conditions treacherous and, try as he might, McGuinness couldn't stay in contention eventually finishing in fifth when the times for the two legs were combined.

The roads were still very damp for the second Supersport 600cc race and just when it looked like he would claim another podium finish, Australian Cameron Donald relegated him to fourth on the final lap. A misfire meant a second lap retirement in the final Superbike race, bringing his day to a premature end.

"I'm obviously delighted to have taken my first victories at the Ulster but I'm disappointed with the way things turned out on the Superbike," admitted McGuinness. "The Stobart Honda was brilliant in the dry and I felt confident that I could take the win but when the rain fell I didn't have the confidence to push as hard as some of the other boys so I feel like I've let people down. I proved what I could do in the dry in the 600cc race when there was pressure on throughout and it was fantastic racing.

"Dundrod is a brilliant circuit but when it rains it's really tough and I didn't want to do anything silly. I'd just opened up a bit of a gap in the main Superbike race when the rain began to fall and there was nothing I could do in the second leg - the other riders were just that bit faster and braver than me and I have to take my hat off to them.

"The 250cc race was a brilliant race which brought back a lot of fond memories for me and I had a smile on my face all the way round. Everyone in the team worked really hard and I was honoured to ride Rikki McCready's bike and dedicate the win to him. All the top 250cc riders like Joey, Gary Dynes, Gavin Lee and Owen McNally helped make the class what it is so it was a real pleasure," John concluded.

McGuinness's next outing sees him return to the British Superbike Championship this weekend at Silverstone, where he will make his debut in the series for the Vitrans Honda team.