“Emotional” John McGuinness takes “honest” Isle of Man TT Superbike result

John McGuinness says fan reaction made his final lap at the 2026 Isle of Man TT Superbike race “emotional”, as he scored an “honest” fifth-place finish.

The 23-time TT winner marked the 30th anniversary of his debut with a special livery, paying tribute to the bikes the late Paul Bird provided for him in 1996.

Setting off at number one on the road, McGuinness was fast throughout the six-lap contest - won by Honda team-mate Dean Harrison - and was involved in a tight battle for much of it for fourth with Josh Brookes.

At one stageabout 1.5s behind Brookes, McGuinness ended up 19.5s adrift at the chequered flag having eased off on the final lap due to fatigue.

“The icing on the cake would have been the podium, but the three, four in front of me are the best road racers on the planet and they are hard to beat,” he told TT+.

“But when they unveiled the bike, I’m not going to lie, it cracked me up a bit, I got a bit emotional, because it just took me back 30 years looking at my 250s that Paul Bird provided for me.

“Just such a shame that Paul wasn’t here to see it, but the two twins were here to see it, see me go flying on the bike.

“It was quite emotional to start with, but I was determined at the start, get stuck in, I didn’t want Nathan [Harrison] to catch me.

“I just put six strong laps together, a couple of pit stops.

“I saw the pitboard and I was nibbling into Josh a bit, and I was a little bit weak up over the mountain and back down the mountain.

“But I kept him honest all the way. A top five in a Superbike TT is pretty good.”

McGuinness came close to his fastest ever lap at the TT when he crept into the 132mph bracket early on, but was denied from going faster due to tiredness in his shoulder.

“I felt fairly strong at the end, I did just shy of 132mph on my last lap,” he added.

“But I’ll hold my hand up: I was a bit tired on the last lap, tired in my left shoulder, so I had to come back a little bit.

“That’s the point this place can hurt you, so I just said I would enjoy this last lap.”

Celebrating his 30th anniversary since his TT debut at 54 years old, questions remain about how long McGuinness will continue racing for.

Speaking about his final lap in the Superbike race, he got emotional talking about the reception he was getting from the fans.

“What was really humbling for me was the fans, all the way around the last lap,” he explained.

“It’s so nice. It’s just pretty special, because I’ve been in that position loads of times, winning races, and I get that feeling that it’s just from the heart when people see me riding that bike round here today.

“I hope I did it justice. I’ve got the original leathers on, the bike with the green number plates on; I just thought that was really cool.

“I just want to thank everybody for the support all these years, and that last lap was quite emotional. I just needed to get it to the finish. Top fives, it’s where I am. But it’s honest results.

“I’m happy with that. You’re not going to beat some of them guys.”