John McGuinness admitted his Honda Racing team-mate Dean Harrison “hammered everyone” at the Isle of Man TT as the Mountain Course legend reflected on his ups and downs at the 2026 festival.

McGuinness marked the 30th anniversary of his TT debut and rode in a special livery on his Honda Fireblade, mirroring the colours he rode in during his maiden year at the TT in 1996 on the Paul Bird Honda RS250.

The 54-year-old clinched a best result of fifth place in the Superbike race and lapped at 132.248mph, while McGuinness was 11th in the Senior TT, which was declared a result after one lap because of a red flag crash.

Harrison dominated the Superbike race for his sixth career TT win and set a scorching pace on the opening lap of the Senior at 135.166mph to open a lead of over 12 seconds on corrected time from Peter Hickman.

placeholder image — Dean Harrison (Honda Racing) won the Superbike and Senior races at the Isle of Man TT. Photo by Callum Staley/Pacemaker Press

Harrison was inside Hickman’s 136mph outright lap record at Ramsey hairpin on the second lap before the race was stopped.

“I’ve got tons of mixed emotions after that race week,” said McGuinness. “Some amazing successes to celebrate.

“The team have done the business and built some truly incredible bikes for me and Dean, who is the star of the show.

“We were hurtling round here in practice week having an amazing time; race week came and I was able to produce my fastest ever six-lap race.

“I was strong in that one race I completed with a P5, there are no negatives but it’s hard not to feel frustrated at not being able to run a full-length Senior TT again.

“I’m so pleased for Dean and for Honda. Dean was strong last year in winning those two Superstock races on the Fireblade; he knows what he wants from a motorbike. We worked out what to ask for and Honda delivered.

“It’s so unique racing the TT and we all want exotica here but Dean is a realist, he knew what he wanted and asked for this hybrid Superbike to be built. It shows just how good the ’stock bike is for him to have done what he’s done this week,” added the Morecambe man.

“I’m proud to be part of this jigsaw and super happy to be in this fantastically solid team. All the guys here on the spanners want to be here, we’ve been in each other’s pocket for two weeks and we still get on.”

McGuinness, a 23-time TT winner, said he was once again humbled by the support he received on the Isle of Man from fans visiting from across the globe.

“The support we’ve had has been amazing too, from sponsors, friends of the team and from fans,” he added.

“We’ve all chipped in but it’s important to remember who is holding the handlebars and at the end of the day, Dean hammered everyone.

“I backed him up on the amazing RS250 ’96 replica bike, had amazing feedback from everybody and the fans clapped at me like I was winning. Nobody has ever been clapped in to a fifth place in a TT like I was this week.

“I wore a replica of my old kit, rode a mint Superbike that looked like the first bike I raced here, everyone enjoyed some sunshine and the icing on the cake was seeing Dean win.”