Roads: Honda confirm cause of McGuinness crash

Honda Racing have confirmed that the crash that ruled John McGuinness out of the 2017 road racing season was caused by an unexpected throttle blip as a result of an issue with the race kit ECU. 

McGuinness suffered a badly broken leg in the fast crash at Primrose Hill in practice for this year’s North West 200, and while Honda confirmed the 23-time TT winner had reported the throttle had stuck, or opened unexpectedly, it’s not until now the team have officially revealed the cause of the crash.

“Having extracted and reviewed the data from the ECU on John’s bike, we now know that a setting on the ECU race kit software resulted in the throttle blipping unexpectedly,” team boss Jonny Twelvetrees revealed. 

TOP STORIES

• Bike thief arrested by police in unmarked car
• Piaggio expand MP3 range  
• Top 5 sporty boots
• The Sei Giorni is the ‘most advanced Vespa ever’
• Rukka promises “T-shirt effect” with new summer suit

“Although at the time there was a long delay in getting the data from John’s bike due to the ECU being damaged – the ECU had to be sent all the way to the supplier in China to extract the data from it – we put in a countermeasure of a new spec of ECU for the TT to ensure the problem wouldn’t happen again.

“Separately, now that we know what happened the race kit software has been updated and is now performing perfectly – no repeat of issue in over 5000Ks of both testing and racing since, including at the Slovakia Ring Endurance World Championship race where we put the Fireblade up on the podium.”

McGuinness broke his right tibia and fibular in the crash and has undergone numerous surgeries since as he continues to recover from the injuries. 

Have a browse for your next bike on MCN Bikes For Sale website or use the MCN’s Bikes For Sale App.