John McGuinness says he has “mixed emotions” after the 2026 Isle of Man TT.
For the Honda Racing UK team, the 2026 TT was a clear success, with wins in both 1,000cc races courtesy of Dean Harrison.
McGuinness enjoyed some personal success as well: a fifth place in the Superbike TT that came with his personal best time for a six-lap TT race.
But the headline Senior TT was run over only one lap in the end as a result of a combination of bad weather and a red flag in the race itself when it ran on Friday evening. For the experienced McGuinness, there is a frustration that comes with not being able to complete the Senior over its full six-lap distance, especially when the race didn’t run at all in 2025 due to high winds around the course.
“I’ve got tons of mixed emotions after that race week,” said McGuinness.
“Some amazing successes to celebrate, the team have done the business and built some truly incredible bikes for me and Dean [Harrison], who is the star of the show.
“We were hurtling round here in practice week having an amazing time, race week came and I was able to produce my fastest ever six-lap race.
“I was strong in that one race I completed with a P5, there are no negatives but it’s hard not to feel frustrated at not being able to run a full length Senior TT again.”
McGuinness added: “I’m so pleased for Dean and for Honda. Dean was strong last year in winning those two Superstock races on the Fireblade, he knows what he wants from a motorbike, we worked out what to ask for and Honda delivered.
“It’s so unique racing the TT and we all want exotica here but Dean is a realist, he knew what he wanted and asked for this hybrid Superbike to be built.
“It shows just how good the stock bike is for him to have done what he’s done this week.
“I’m proud to be part of this jigsaw and super happy to be in this fantastically solid team.
“All the guys here on the spanners want to be here, we’ve been in each other’s pocket for two weeks and we still get on.
“The support we’ve had has been amazing too, from sponsors, friends of the team and from fans.
“We’ve all chipped in but it’s important to remember who is holding the handlebars and at the end of the day, Dean hammered everyone.
“I backed him up on the amazing RS250 ’96 replica bike, had amazing feedback from everybody and the fans clapped at me like I was winning.
“Nobody has ever been clapped into a fifth place in a TT like I was this week. I wore a replica of my old kit, rode a mint superbike that looked like the first bike I raced here, everyone enjoyed some sunshine and the icing on the cake was seeing Dean win.”
