VOL. 55 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 13, 2018 P31
NORTON SIGNS JOHN MCGUINNESS
T
wenty-three-time TT Race
winner John McGuinness
signed to ride for the Norton fac-
tory team in the Superbike and
Senior TT Races at the 2018 Isle
of Man TT Races.
McGuinness joins 2015 Brit-
ish Superbike Champion Josh
Brookes in a two-man team
using the latest specification
Norton "SG7" machines, derived
from the firm's flagship V4 RR
road bike.
McGuinness last won a
superbike-class race in 2015,
winning the senior TT, which also
saw him breaking the outright
lap record with a lap of 132.701
mph, which remains his fastest
lap around the Mountain Course.
He achieved podiums in both
the 2016 Superbike and Senior
TT but missed last year's TT
race meeting due to serious
injuries sustained in the North
West 200, from which he is still
recovering. However, he expects
to be back to full fitness in time
for his TT debut with Norton this
June.
"I didn't want to end my career
due to an injury, but the truth is
I didn't know whether I would
be able to come back as I didn't
know how fit I was going to be,"
McGuinness said. "Right now,
things are going well. I feel a lot
sharper and my head is in gear
and ready to go. The plan is to
get the external fixator cage off
my leg by the end of this month
and after that we can start work-
ing towards getting bike fit and
testing.
"I'm definitely ready for a
change of manufacturer," he
added. "I needed an injection
of enthusiasm and I've found it
with Norton. From the first time I
met with Stuart [Garner, Norton
CEO] the vibe was there and the
passion. I watched Steve Hislop
win the TT on the Norton in 1992
and it was massive. Everyone
remembers that! We can't get
carried away, it's going to be a
big job but I've watched a lot of
YouTube videos of the bike in
action, I watched the bike out on
track last year and it's clearly a
very fast and capable bike and
I can tell you there are worse
handling bikes out there too, so
there's no reason we can't do
the business if the stars line up
right." CN
John McGuinness and Norton
are a match made in TT
heaven, but it remains to be
seen how his fitness is leading
up to TT week in June.
