The story of John McGuinness It will be one of those worthy of telling through a film, about how a bricklayer becomes the great figure of road races and helps to revitalize them. But beyond that, John is a human being at 54 years old and thinking about retirement is not so far-fetched.
Logically, making the decision to retire becomes quite complicated when you continue to be as competitive as McGuinness is and despite having not won the TT for several years, he continues to give a lot of fight. So much so that last May he achieved his best time six laps into the race. And be careful, we are facing a pilot who He has won 23 TTs in different categories and was the first to break the 130-mile barrier.
So we are talking not only about an active legend but about a driver who, despite having been competing for almost four decades, continues to give his best version every time he goes out on the track. In fact, in the recent Classic TT, also held on the Mountain Course, he managed to win the “Historic Senior” race.
Why McGuinness still has a place at Honda
With all this in mind, the question is why should McGuinness retire? It is true that, seen from the outside, perhaps it is already enough of a risk that the rest of us may think that such a long and successful career combined with age is enough. But seen from a competitive point of view, the question is still valid and logical.
And the same is confirmed by two of his grill mates, Dean Harrison, with whom he shares a team, and Davey Todd. In fact, both have gone further than that since in the podcast Between the Hedges, a program from TT itself, they claimed that McGuinness should keep his place at Honda.
Not only do they talk about whether he continues to compete or not, but that no one has earned the right more than him to do so with one of the leading teams and the fact is that if we retire John… Who is faster to replace him? There is the big question and it seems that it is the one that leaves the door open for the British to continue in 2027.
Harrison spoke precisely in that sense: “I don’t think he’s doing himself any disservice; I think he’s almost doing himself proud because he’s still doing 132mph, he’s in the top six every time he goes out there and he’s holding his own. “There are people further down the grid who are almost half his age who should probably be nipping at his heels a little bit.
As long as he keeps doing that, who is going to take away his motorcycle? Realistically, who is faster than him on the grid that is going to stay with his bike and take that bike to the next place?” For his part, Todd added the finishing touch and, willingly or unwillingly, put his finger on the reality regarding the competitiveness not only of John but with respect to the rest:
“I don’t think there’s anyone else who deserves his seat at Honda. That’s something that’s been talked about a lot, that a younger, up-and-coming rider should take his seat, but I don’t think anyone is going to do as good a job as John is doing now.
He did his fastest six laps ever this year – faster than he had ever gone before in a six-lap race – so how can you ask someone to retire when they’re still doing a personal best and they’re still really enjoying it?” Having said all this, the question is obvious: Will we see McGuinness at the TT in 2027?… The answer is also obvious: for now, there are no indications to the contrary.
