TT: McGuinness: 'Missing the TT is going to hurt'

John McGuinness has spoken out for the first time since his horrific crash at last week’s Vauxhall International North West 200.

The 23-time TT winner remains in Belfast’s Royal Victoria hospital where he’s receiving treatment for a broken right tibia and fibula, four broken vertebrae and broken back ribs after a high speed off in the second Superbike qualifying session last Thursday.

Following the crash, Honda Racing withdrew from the rest of the North West after they were unable to rule out a technical malfunction as the cause of the incident.

“I really am truly overwhelmed with the amount of support and well wishes that have been flooding in since my accident at the North West 200 last Thursday,” McGuinness said in an official Honda statement.

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“Both myself and the wife (Becky) have received so much support and I cannot thank the race fans, industry people, the medical teams and fellow racers enough; all your messages do help pull me through the dark hours.

“I’m still at the Royal Victoria Hospital undergoing various treatments for my leg injury; the fixator is still yet to be fitted as they don’t want to run the risk of infection, so at the moment it is day-by-day.

“I’m not going to lie, missing the TT this year is going to hurt, but I will be watching and keeping an eye on everything! Good luck to all the lads heading out there; if I am able to head over then of course I will be there, but at the moment everything is day-by-day and I just have to do what I can to recover and get better. It’s going to be a long road ahead, but I have a great support network around me, so I have to be patient and take each day as it comes.” 

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