Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness has message for younger rivals coveting his factory Honda seat: 'Come and blow me into the weeds'
Two of the Isle of Man TT’s top riders have dismissed the notion that Mountain Course legend John McGuinness should step aside to allow a younger rider to take his factory Honda seat.
The 23-time winner’s Honda Racing team-mate Dean Harrison and fellow Superbike and Senior TT race winner Davey Todd say there are currently no other riders outside of the TT’s established big four, which includes 36-time winner Michael Dunlop and outright lap record holder Peter Hickman, who could step in and do a better job than the 54-year-old.
McGuinness, who achieved his last TT victory in the Senior race in 2015, recorded his fastest-ever six laps around the 37.73-mile course in June’s Superbike race at an average speed of 129.497mph as he finished fifth.
He returned to the top step at the Classic TT on Monday, winning the Historic Senior race on the Winfield Paton, and rode his iconic 2007 HM Plant Honda in a special tribute lap marking the 30th anniversary of his TT debut in 1996.
McGuinness famously set the first 130mph TT lap to win the prestigious Senior race in the centenary year of the TT in 2007, which is one of the English rider’s most celebrated moments.
In a special edition of Between the Hedges, which is available now to watch on TT+ or on the Isle of Man TT’s YouTube channel, Harrison and Todd said McGuinness does more than enough to warrant his factory Superbike ride at the TT.
“Everyone’s wanting to take his place, aren’t they?,” said Harrison, who was in dominant form at the TT in June as he won the Superbike and Senior races for a coveted big bike double.
“I don’t think he’s doing himself any disservice; I think he’s doing himself proud almost because he’s doing 132mph still, he’s top-six every time he’s out there and he’s holding his own.
“There’s people that are further down the field that are nearly half his age and should probably be nipping at his heels a little bit. As long as he’s doing that, who else is going to take his ride?
“Realistically, who’s going faster than him on the grid that’s going to get his ride and take that ride to the next level?
“I don’t think he wants to stop, I think he wants to carry on, and I just said, ‘if you’re still enjoying yourself and you’re still going fast, why do you have to stop’.
“I’ll quite happily have him as my team-mate for another year, it’s fine by me.”
Todd, ruled out this year through injury, echoes those sentiments and said there was no reason for McGuinness to hang up his leathers.
“I don’t think there’s anybody else who deserves his seat at Honda, that’s something that’s been talked about a lot, is that a younger, up and coming rider should take his seat, but I don’t think anybody’s going to do as good a job as John’s doing now,” Todd said.
“He did his fastest ever six laps this year – faster than he’s ever gone before in a six-lap race – how do you expect someone to retire when they’re still doing their personal best and still actually loving it.”
McGuinness admits that he can no longer win at the TT, but he had a message for any of his younger rivals craving his Honda seat: ‘Come and blow me into the weeds and they can have my seat’.
Recounting his last big win at the TT in the 2015 Senior, McGuinness said: “The last lap, I got waved all the way around, outright lap record on lap two, and it was a bit like that ‘130’ feeling [setting the first 130mph lap in the 2007 Senior], you could actually hear people cheering in the grandstands, which was pretty tingling at the time.
“It’s a feeling I’ll take to my grave that one and I’ll never ever go through that feeling again.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have that feeling a few times but I’m not in a position to win any more, but I’m there or thereabouts.
“But I want them other kids to blow me into the weeds and they can have my ride.”
McGuinness recently said he would “get round a table with Honda” to discuss his options for 2027.