TT 2015 John McGuinness [News] 3rd June 2015

TT 2015 John McGuinness [News] 3rd June 2015


A fit-again John McGuinness has more Isle of Man TT glory in his sights as last year’s injury frustration becomes nothing more than a fading memory.

The Morecambe Missile looked ominously like the McGuinness of old at the North West 200 on the Honda Fireblade SP, finishing the sole premier class race in a solid sixth place.

The 43-year-old knows the CBR1000RR inside-out and remains the fastest rider ever over a six-lap distance on the Mountain Course, averaging an incredible 128.943mph on his way to victory over his then Honda TT Legends team-mate Michael Dunlop in the 2013 Senior.

McGuinness – also the third fastest rider ever in TT history behind Bruce Anstey (132.298mph) and Dunlop (131.890mph) with a lap of 131.671mph set on his way to third place in the 2013 Superbike race – will again carry the number one plate as he puts himself to the test once more on the legendary stretch of 37.73-mile tarmac at the greatest road race in the world.

The 21-times TT winner admits he had a slight preference for number three this year, but the iconic number made famous by Joey Dunlop will be carried by the great man’s nephew Michael, who completed his second successive four-timer on the Mountain Course last June to raise his tally to 11 victories.

“I was happy with number one but I quite fancied number three, but I think Michael’s probably in a position to call some shots now and it’s good for a Dunlop to be at number three,” said McGuinness.

“But whatever, whether it’s number one or number three, there’s nowhere to hide now in the top 10. There is no breathing space any more and when that flag drops everybody is going to be absolutely on the pipe.

“Whoever is asleep at the start is going to be going backwards,” added McGuinness, who managed his maiden win in the TT Zero race last year on the Japanese Mugen machine despite his wrist injury, which he suffered during a crash on his enduro bike weeks before the start of the season, breaking his right scaphoid.

“I like number one though, I like to be on my own. I don’t like loads of people around me and I like a bit of clear space.

“I just like to race the track with myself and the bike and if they catch me so be it, but if they don’t then I’ll hopefully be up at the front, so we’ll see.”

McGuinness is too long in the tooth now to feel the extra burden of pressure that comes with being the first rider to blast off down the Glencrutchery Road towards Bray Hill with a full tank of fuel on cold tyres, even though he admits nerves got the better of him when he rode the 500cc V-twin Honda in 1999.

“I went off at number one in ’99 on the 500 and I fell apart a little bit to be honest with the pressure, but not now,” said McGuinness.

“I’ve won races from number one and it always looks good going off first on the telly!

“You can’t have a little steady lap now to ease yourself into it and it’s pretty much full on. But I’ve got the experience, I’ve got the bike and the tools, so I’ve just got to see what happens.

“There’s nothing else to say, I can’t say I’m going to clear off and cruise because you can forget it,” he added.

“If you hit your apexes and ride as hard as you can and I get the best out of myself, that’s all I can do and if I don’t win, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day I’ll do my best and when I do my best, I normally do all right.”

McGuinness will compete in four solo classes at the 2015 TT festival, which begins in anger on Saturday with the RST Superbike race.

In addition to his official Honda Racing Fireblade, he will ride a 600cc Honda for Jackson Racing in both Monster Energy Supersport races plus his own Honda Superstock machine, backed by global analytics and data storage company EMC2, and the Mugen electric bike.


Courtesy of newsletter.co.uk