John McGuinness | |||||||||||||||
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McGuinness after winning the 2013 Senior TT
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Nationality | English | ||||||||||||||
Born |
Morecambe, Lancashire, England |
16 April 1972 ||||||||||||||
Current team | Honda Racing | ||||||||||||||
Bike number | 1 | ||||||||||||||
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TT Course fastest lap 132.701 mph or 213.562 km/h |
John McGuinness (born John Warren McGuinness, 16 April 1972 in Morecambe) is an English professional motorcycle racer who competes for the Honda Europe factory racing team in road races like the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200, the Macau Grand Prix and on the short tracks he rides for the Padgett's Honda Racing Team in the British Superstock and Supersport series. He was part of a motorcycle endurance-racing team called Honda TT Legends.
McGuinness is a specialist Isle of Man TT solo motorcycle rider with 23 wins as of 2015. In 2013, a left-hand bend on the Snaefell Mountain Course used for TT races before the top of Barregarrow on the main A3 road was named McGuinness's in recognition of his wins, together with Dave Molyneux who was similarly honoured. In April 2016, the RAC announced McGuinness as recipient of the Segrave Trophy for 2015.
Born and raised in Morecambe, Lancashire, his father owned a motorcycle repair shop, but advised John to train as a bricklayer. Graduating in 1990, the resultant recession forced him into cockle fishing with his future father-in-law.
McGuiness's first race was an endurance road race at Aintree in 1990, at age 18.
McGuiness's first Isle of Man TT race was in 1996, the same year as David Jefferies, finishing 15th.
John first competed on the Isle of Man in 1996 and took his first win in the Lightweight 250cc race three years later, the year he also became British 250 Champion.