£ Leap of
faith: John’s
Honda flies
over a natural
kicker on the
TT Circuit
................................................................... ...................................................................
By that time I’d expected to have
about 1,500km of riding under my belt,
what with pre-season testing and the
early season World Endurance and
BSB rounds. But all I’d had was half
a day at Castle Coombe. Without a
doubt, it was the hardest TT I’ve ever
had - even more so than learning the
place on my debut in 1996. You can
deal with all the off-track demands but going into a race, having no idea
where you’re going to end up is tough.
In the first few nights of practice it
was okay, but the TT is demanding physically and mentally - and the more
the fortnight wore on, the harder it got.
I’m back in good condition now and
would definitely take an opportunity
if it came up [to ride in BSB or
Superstock]; there just isn’t the right
spot open at the moment. We’ll see
what next season brings around!
You race in World Endurance, both
physically and mentally it must be
incredibly tough to race for 24hrs
around the likes of Le Mans? Can
you actually enjoy it?
I do enjoy it yeah, but there’s no
denying it’s tough. It’s a different
challenge to the TT obviously, but quite
a lot of things translate across. Having
26 | FreestyleXtreme.com
to stay wired and focused for that
amount of time isn’t easy. Every time
I ride I go out to win, not just make
up the numbers, so that’s motivation
enough to get through it!
Would you like to see your son Ewan
race? Would you let him race the
TT?
He’s not really into two wheels, he’s a
massive four-wheel fan; which hurts
sometimes! When I was brought
into this world with my Dad, it was
just bikes, bikes, bikes – so naturally
I didn’t think there was anything
different. I never got a new football
for Christmas, I got a new set of bike
trousers or body armour! I naturally
thought things would carry on the
same way with my son.
He’s a huge four-wheel fan and
super intelligent, so I can see him
engineering an F1 car, designing aero
or hydraulics. I don’t think we are
going to see him flying down Bray Hill
anytime soon, which is probably not a
bad thing as far as I’m concerned!
Would you like to finish your career
out as a Honda rider in the way Joey
Dunlop did or does the thought of
trying another brand excite you?
They say a change is as good as a
rest if you reach a stage where you
need a bit of rejuvenation.
I’m a bit of a creature of habit in
many ways and a believer in ‘if it’s not
broken, don’t fix it’. A lot of the lap
records up until Michael [Dunlop]’s lap
were held by Hondas. The package
and support that Honda have given me
over the years has been fantastic, and
I am really grateful for that. I’m excited
about the prospect of the new bike
next year – we’ve been competing on
what is essentially older machinery and
still hanging up the front, so to have
newer technology in the pipeline is
very exciting.
We look forward to it! T
/JohnMcGuinnessRacing
@jm130tt