DONINGTON proved to be almost as exciting as Aintree on Saturday.

Defending 250cc Champion John McGuinness saw his chances of victory end when a bent gear selector caused him to crash out at the start of lap two of the seventeen lap race.

McGuinness, 25, from Morecambe, was trailing fellow Honda rider Darren Barton on the entry to Redgate Corner when he lost the front end of the Vimto Honda at the 70mph right hander, which resulted in his first British Championship non-finish since July 1998.

"It wouldn't go down the gearbox properly at the hairpin and then into Redgate, I couldn't select the right gear and ended up carrying too much speed. The front end just washed out on me and the next thing I knew I was in the gravel," said uninjured John. "At least it's not my fault but I'm still bitterly disappointed and I guess I was due some bad luck" he continued.

But the result turned out not be to quite the disaster it seemed when a number of McGuinness; rivals dropped by the wayside - including round one winner Barton who crashed twice in the race - and as a consequence McGuinness lies in sixth place just thirteen points adrift of championship leaders and both former Vimto Honda riders, Callum Ramsay and Jason Davis.