John McGuinness picks “one standout moment, a defining moment for me”

John McGuinness has plenty of highlights in his legendary career to look back upon, and the journey isn’t over yet.

Only Joey Dunlop and Michael Dunlop have won more races at the Isle of Man TT than McGuinness’ tally of 23.

But a battle with Joey Dunlop at the 1996 North West 200 is a memory to savour for McGuinness.

“If you asked me to pick one standout moment in the past 30 years at the NW200 it would be in 1996,” he told Belfast Newsletter earlier this year.

“After two years of learning the track and weighing the job up, I found myself in the leading group of the 250cc race when the flag dropped.

“That was a defining moment for me, a moment when I thought I could do alright at road racing because a lot of the 250cc greats were there including Joey Dunlop, Phillip McCallen, Phelim Owens, Robbie Milton, Callum Ramsay, Woolsey Coulter, and Owen McNally.

“I’d gone from struggling on bikes that weren’t the most competitive to dicing with Joey Dunlop.”

Two years earlier, riding a 250cc Yamaha, McGuinness debuted at the North West 200 but failed to finish either race due to mechanical problems.

In 1997, a year after his memorable breakthrough performance, he claimed his first podium after finishing behind Callum Ramsey.

In 2000, he won in the two-stroke class for the first time. McGuinness has won six times at the North West 200.

Earlier this year he competed again at the event, now aged 52, celebrating a 30-year milestone since his debut.

“I always wanted to do the North West,” he reminisced.

“I had been competing in the British championships but I wanted to be a road racer.

“I’d read all the books, listened to the stories and my mates Lee Pullan, Mick Lofthouse and David Jefferies, were all doing it.

“It seemed the natural thing to do and I was offered a free boat and a free entry to race in 1994 which now, in this day and age, is unheard of.”

McGuinness and his future wife “rounded up a few tins of beans and soup and set off in the van”.

But he explained: “My Dad, who was my mechanic, didn’t want me to go road racing and he refused to come with us.

“I didn’t have a clue what I was letting myself in for really…”

The rest, as they say, is history.