2022 Isle of Man TT “could be my last”, says legend McGuinness

McGuinness has become one of the greatest motorcycle road racers of all time in his glittering career and has won an incredible 23 times at the TT.

The Morecambe rider is second only to motorcycle racing icon Joey Dunlop, whose tally of 26 TT victories remains unmatched.

PLUS: What went wrong with McGuinness's 2019 TT comeback?

McGuinness will return to Honda in 2022 – having last raced with the Japanese marque in 2017 – following a dismal 2019 TT with Norton, in which he retired from both Superbike races with mechanical issues.

He was due to race for Bournemouth Kawasaki at TT 2020 and 2021 before both events were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, with his Honda return announced last December.

But McGuinness, who will have turned 50 by the time TT 2022 rolls around having made his debut back in 1996, has now hinted at retirement in an interview with the PA news agency on Tuesday when he collected his MBE for services to motorcycle racing.

“Last time I raced there I didn’t have a great TT, and I didn’t want to finish my racing career on a breakdown,” he said.

“So, this – [I’ve] never said this before – could possibly be my last TT, but I wanted to just go there with everything, all the I’s dotted and t’s crossed, and go and enjoy it and see where we end up.”

McGuinness has won 16 of his TTs on Honda machinery, 12 of which in the event’s big bike races aboard its CBR1000RR Fireblade.

John McGuinness, Honda

Photo by: Honda

His relationship with Honda soured in 2017 following his accident at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland, when a technical issue with the then-new Fireblade model caused him to crash at 100mph and left him with a badly broken right leg.

Joining Norton for 2018, he re-broke his leg and was forced to defer his TT comeback to 2019.

McGuinness continued racing despite the absence of road racing from the calendar, contesting the Ducati TriOptions Cup on the British Superbike schedule – making three podium appearances.

Back in 2019, after his TT comeback disaster, McGuinness told Autosport of the importance of a road racer undertaking a campaign on the short circuits – highlighting the success the likes of five-time TT winner and outright lap record holder Peter Hickman and three-time winner Dean Harrison have had having also raced in BSB.

“Harrison does BSB, Hickman does BSB, Conor [Cummins] did the first few BSBs [in 2019] – that’s your Senior podium,” McGuinness said three years ago.

“[James] Hillier did BSBs, he was on the podium all week, winning at the North West [200]. Lee Johnston is doing some BSB, he’s strong.

“The guys running at the front [on the roads] are doing a bit more, so that’s what we need to be doing.”