McGuinness hosts exhitition to mark 20 years at the Isle of Man TT

The ‘John McGuinness Collection’, in conjunction with Dunlop, Bennetts and Motul, will display a wide variety of machines from the Morecambe Missile’s iconic career that has seen him rack up 23 wins on the island.

A total of 12 bikes are available for public viewing in Nobles Park including eight of which have taken wins around the 37 and ¾-mile circuit.

McGuinness said: “Having the display is something I’ve been thinking of for a while and it was a conversation with Mark Sears of Dunlop earlier this year that kick-started everything.

“Sadly, Mark lost his life in an accident a couple of months ago but we’ve seen the project through as I wanted to give something back to all the TT fans and share my 20-year journey with them.

“What’s nice about the collection is there’s a real variety in there including two-strokes, four-strokes, singles, 400s, Superbikes and electric bikes and each and every one of them has a story to tell.

“I can still remember my first practice lap of the course and it was wet, cold, foggy and sunny and I’m still tearing round the place today.

“The TT means so much to me and it’s been an incredible journey so far, a journey that the fans have all been part of so come down and have a look!”

It was in 1996 that the resort racer made his debut on the island and that’s where the display starts with the 250cc Paul Bird Honda that he piloted to 15th place in that year’s Lightweight 250cc race.

The second bike is also a two-stroke machine and it’s one of great significance as it’s the 250cc TSR Vimto Honda that McGuinness rode to his maiden TT triumph, the 1999 250cc race.

His second TT win came in the Singles race of 2000 and the Chrysalis AMDM can also be seen along with the ValMoto Triumph used in the 2003 Junior 600cc race.

2004 was a significant milestone for McGuinness as it was the year he took his first TT hat-trick and all three of those machines – the IFS R1 Yamaha, the IFS R6 Yamaha and RLR400 Honda – are all on view.

The next bike is also one of great significance as it not only took McGuinness to victory in the 2007 Senior, the combination also created history with the first ever 130mph lap of the Mountain Course.

The final three machines are all from the last two years with the 2014 Shinden 3 Mugen, the 2014 Valvoline Racing/Padgetts Honda CBR600RR and the Honda Racing Fireblade, the bike that saw McGuinness win last year’s Senior, his 23rd TT victory, and also set a new outright lap record of 132.701mph.

The display is also home to his 2016 Superstock effort and everyone can see his team prepare the EMC2/Bet Victor Honda Fireblade.

As well as the rare collection of motorbikes, race fans can also buy a wide range of official John McGuinness merchandise.