Nineteen-times Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness has described the Honda TT Legends’ fourth place finish in the 2012 Endurance World Championship as a “fantastic achievement”.

McGuinness, who won the Superbike and Superstock races at the TT in June to reduce the gap further to Ulster hero Joey Dunlop’s record tally of 26 Mountain victories, plus Cameron Donald and stand-in rider Mathieu Gines finished fifth in the final round of the series in the Le Mans 24-Hours showdown in France.

The team missed out on third position in the championship by just a single point, but McGuinness says he is “proud” of the overall effort.

“It’s a fantastic achievement for us all really. We’ve worked well together, we’ve travelled the world together, we’ve had success at North West and the TT and we’ve done ourselves proud in endurance,” said the 40-year-old, who is among the entries for the Gold Cup meeting at Scarborough.

“When you put 24 hours in and you’re that close to being top three in the world, it’s just frustrating.

“I tried my best. Every time I got on the bike I tried my best, whether it was in testing or racing,” added the Morecambe man.

“I haven’t thrown the bike down the road once and the bike’s never missed a beat all the way through, so yeah, it’s fantastic for us all.”

The Legends team was the only outfit to finish every race this year along with championship winners SERT and Aussie Cameron Donald echoed the sentiments of fellow road race star McGuinness.

“We have to be proud of ourselves. It’s our second year in world endurance and we’re top four,” said Donald, who appears set for a return to the Isle of Man TT next year following speculation that his appearance on the Mountain Course in June could have been his last.

“I’m devastated that we didn’t get top three because a medal would have been really sweet, but at the end of the day, we made a good account of ourselves and we did our best,” he added.

“We’re relative rookies to the discipline and the series so we should be proud.

“I’ve put a lot of work in, as has the whole team, and I got to work alongside some great people. It’s been a lot of fun.”

It is understood the Honda TT Legends team will run again in 2013.

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