Isle of Man TT superstar John McGuinness admits that young rival Michael Dunlop is something of an unknown quantity ahead of this year’s Superbike and Senior races in June.

The 40-year-old Morecambe man, who is closing in on Joey Dunlop’s all-time record of 26 victories at the TT after boosting his tally to 19 with wins in the Superbike and Superstock events in 2012, expects the 24-year-old from Ballymoney to be ‘fast and hungry’, although if McGuinness has even the slightest concern that his stunning record in the premier class could be under threat, he certainly isn’t showing it.

The Honda TT Legends rider still craves the challenge of competing on the infamous Snaefell Mountain Course and remains as competitive as ever.

Speaking at the official launch of the 2013 Isle of Man TT races, a relaxed and reflective McGuinness stated simply that ‘the best man will win on the day’.

“Michael Dunlop is fast and hungry and has already won three TTs, so he’s three ahead of me already because I didn’t make my debut until I was 25.

“I’ve had big team-mates in the past and I was team-mates with his uncle Joey. It’s going to be interesting because we don’t know what we’re going to get from him.

“It’s a really strong Honda team with Michael Rutter also involved as well and hopefully it will be a good race and everyone brings it back safe,”added McGuinness.

“The best man will win on the day.

“I never thought I’d be sitting with 19 wins, but I’ve had good bikes, good teams and a bit of luck.

“I still love racing at the TT and I’ve had big support from everyone throughout my career – my mum and dad, my wife and kids; we all love coming here.”

McGuinness followed in the footsteps of TT heroes like Giacomo Agostini and Joey Dunlop by having a corner named in his honour this week on the fast approach from Handley’s to the top of the Barregarrow.

He admitted afterwards that he was ‘humbled’ by the gesture, with his favourite stretch of the iconic circuit now know as ‘McGuinness’s.’

“I welled up with emotion when I saw my board for McGuinness corner named after me.

“It will be there forever and I’m really humbled and honoured by it,” he said.

McGuinness, who will carry the number three plate on his stable of Honda machines at the TT this season after setting off at number one for the past two years, joked that he ‘would never be able to set foot back in Ireland’ if he manages to attain the eight wins he needs to eclipse Dunlop’s benchmark of 26 victories. “If you’d have said to me when I was 25 and starting out at the TT that I’d have 19 wins I’d have taken that,” he said.

“It doesn’t seem possible to be winning three TTs at the age of 48 but Joey did it.

“If I managed to get 26 wins it would be amazing, but the most amazing thing would be to achieve 26 wins and equal Joey’s record with Joey there in the winners’ enclosure to talk about it.”

McGuinness, along with his Honda Legends team-mates Rutter and Dunlop plus Milwaukee Yamaha’s Conor Cummins and William Dunlop, were among the leading names represented at the media launch on Wednesday.




Kyle White
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