John McGuinness: TT legend’s first crash in six years

Although John McGuinness finished last in his first tarmac race in 1990, he went on to become not only a versatile but also a successful racing driver. Over the course of his long career, he scored points in both the Motorcycle World Championship and the Endurance World Championship. However, the Briton really showed his true class on road circuits. He won the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy 23 times, putting him in third place on the all-time winners’ list.

Despite his successes, achieved against the toughest competition, McGuinness rarely pushed himself beyond his limits. Unlike some of his rivals, who leave their bikes in pieces at the team’s garage almost every race weekend, accidents caused by riding errors are rare exceptions for him. His most serious crash, for instance, occurred during practice for the North West 200, where he sustained a complex leg injury and vertebral fractures; this was caused by a technical fault.

Last weekend at the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park, the Honda works rider once again failed to see the chequered flag due to a crash. In the second race of the Superstock category, he was in 15th place when he was forced off his bike at ‘Knickerbrook’. “This is the first time in about six years that I’ve crashed on the bike,” recalled the father of two after the race.

“I’m fine and the bike’s fine. As disappointing as it is, the weekend and the race had been going well up to that point. I’d set my fastest ever lap at Oulton Park and was enjoying the race. I’m grateful to Honda Racing UK for providing me with the bike, and to my crew, who looked after it so well throughout the weekend,” he is quoted as saying by his colleagues at Crash.net.