Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness’s Honda return “like an old pair of slipper”

Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness says rekindling his relationship with Honda in 2022 was like “slipping on an old pair of slippers” after quitting the team in 2017.

McGuinness has a storied history with the Japanese brand, having taken his first TT victory in the 1999 Lightweight race back in 1999.

In total, McGuinness has won 15 of his 23 TTs aboard Honda machinery.

But the relationship with the brand soured in 2017 in the wake of his serious incident at that year’s North West 200, which ruled him out of the TT for two years.

When he returned to racing in 2019, he did so with the Norton squad, though unreliable and uncompetitive machinery blighted his campaign.

Having signed up to race with Kawasaki before the COVID pandemic struck, McGuinness ultimately rekindled his relationship with Honda when the TT returned in 2022.

Since then, the now 53-year-old has enjoyed solid form, with a fifth-place finish in the 2022 Superbike TT and a fifth in last year’s Senior TT.

In an interview with the Belfast News Letter, McGuinness said of his most recent stint with Honda: “The Honda relationship in 2017 went a little bit pear-shaped and it was sort of like getting divorced when you didn’t want to, if that makes sense.

“There was a lot of stuff going on at that time and it was a hard time, you know.

“For me, it was quite tough because I’d been in such a [winning] rhythm for so long.

“I made that decision to ride the Norton which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best decision, then I was going to go Kawasaki, then COVID; sometimes the stars just line up and it was meant to be for me to be back at Honda I think.

“That’s the top and bottom of it and it was like slipping on an old pair of slippers I suppose.”

McGuinness notched up his 100th TT start in 2022, which Honda celebrated with a limited edition Fireblade, and will enter his 35th season of racing in 2025.