John McGuinness “not feeling it at all” before Isle of Man TT Superbike race

John McGuinness admits he was “not feeling it at all” before Monday’s 2025 Isle of Man TT Superbike race, in which he was seventh on the works Honda.

The 23-time TT winner has had a tricky practice week and was off the pace at the start of the four-lap Superbike contest on Monday.

Dropping outside of the top 10 at one stage, McGuinness rallied to score a top seven result on his Honda Fireblade.

Commenting after the race, he said he “needed that” result to get his head right.

“I just needed that,” he told TT+.

“It’s weird. I’ve been racing here since 1996 and I’m just not feeling it at all.

“I’m struggling all the way through, and some damp patches [in practice] and I was a little bit scared.

“But conditions were good and I was wearing number one to go away number one on the Honda.

“I was a bit of a sitting duck, everyone caught me up.

“But honestly I did my best, I hit all my spots. I had a little bit of a lazy start, then a good pitstop.

“And it’s never over till it’s over. You’ve just got to keep fighting, keep pushing. I enjoyed the race and that’s what racing’s about for me.”

McGuinness added: “Dean [Harrison] passed me going into Schoolhouse on lap one, I got a bit of a tow behind.

“But then the bike jumped into a false neutral around the Waterworks.

“So, I lost the tow off Dean. It got a bit scrappy at the start, and then I was like ‘come on’.

“I just took some deep breaths and thought we’re good in the pits, Honda’s good on fuel, so I thought we would be stationary less than the other guys.

“So, we were in and out, and then just kept going.

“And I just said I’ve got to keep concentrating right to the end.

“I saw P9, P7 and I thought ‘it’s alright, this’. It’s nice to see single digits.

“When I saw P14 I thought ‘oh no, I’ll be getting a P45 at this rate’. The nice thing is the team just said ‘go and enjoy yourself’. I can’t ask for any more than that.”

McGuinness didn’t take part in Monday afternoon’s Supersport race, as he is only riding in the Superbike and Superstock classes this year.