The Morecambe ace just missed out on the points when he finished 16th at the end of the 24 laps, with the race being help in wet, but drying conditions.

Riding the Padgett's Honda, the weekend started extremely well for John and the team when he placed an excellent 6th in the first qualifying session.

However, final qualifying proved to be incredibly fraught and an oil spillage two thirds of the way through the 40 minutes made life even more difficult.

Although McGuinness went quicker in the final moments, a number of riders had gone quicker when the track conditions were at their best and he was shuffled back to 14th, meaning a fourth row start.

All hopes of a dry race disappeared on the warm up lap when rain began to fall and the 24-lap race was delayed to allow the riders to switch to more suitable tyres.

When it finally got underway, the rain had stopped and McGuinness showed his intentions with a great start, which immediately moved him up to 12th.

By lap six he was up to 11th and it finally looked like he would get his first points of the season. However, the track was beginning to dry quickly and McGuinness began to struggle for grip from half race distance onwards.

By lap 16 he had been bumped back to 14th and then, in the final two laps, he got relegated to 16th meaning all his hard work at the beginning of the race had been in vain and he missed out on the points by just one place.

McGuinness said: "What can I say, it's been another disappointing day.
"Mallory's an extremely difficult place so I knew qualifying would again be vital and when I was sixth in the first session, it looked like I was heading in the right direction at last.

"In final qualifying though, I never got a clear run as there was traffic on each and every lap and some people made a smart move by getting a quick lap in early in the session.

"With the oil being right on the racing line at Gerard's, it compromised us a lot and although I knocked a tenth off my time, I dropped from the second row to the fourth."

"I made a great start in the race and had caught the row in front of me by the time we got to the first corner but the track was really slippy and those first few laps were tough.

"I was hanging in there in 12th though and felt strong but just after half race distance, I began to lose a bit of grip and those riders who had opted for cut slicks were getting so much drive out of the corners that I was pretty powerless to do much about it.

"It's proving to be an incredibly tough Championship this year but I feel like I'm riding well and the bike is working well so my luck's got to change soon."

The next round of the British Supersport Championship takes place at Oulton Park on Sunday July 19, but, prior to that, McGuinness will be again participating in the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he will be reunited with 2006 and 2007 TT winning Superbike.