Exclusive Interview: McGuinness: 'I don't want to hit Bray Hill and have my leg snap off!'

A month ago, Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness had looked certain to be heading down Bray Hill for the first time on the booming Norton SG7, but a set-back with the leg injury he has spent the last year recovering from now means that is unlikely.

Having taken his first steps at the official TT press launch on the Isle of Man after the removal of his cage, a buoyant McGuinness couldn’t wait to get back on two wheels having lined up rides with Norton, Michael Dunlop Racing, KMR Kawasaki and Mugen for the 2018 TT.

However, having been in pain with his leg after a family holiday, the 23x TT winner returned to hospital to find out there was a problem.

“The leg has re-cracked on the original fracture,” he explains. “Where my tibia and fibular broke, just above the ankle, is where the it compound fractured out the side of my leg. 

“Initially when they put the cage on, I wasn’t growing bone, I was crushing that original fracture together and that’s been crushed together and held for ten months. The surgeons never worry about that but, all they are concerned about is the top bit of bone they are regenerating, where they’ve re-broken the leg at the top and then you grow it back by stretching it 1mm per day. 

“I had an MRI scan, TT scan, all of that on the original fracture in November and they said it was OK, but the bottom line is when I came out of the frame, did a bit of light walking and then got the go ahead to go fully weight bearing, after six days on holiday for some reason the original fracture cracked. It’s not broken, just a hairline crack on the front. The surgeon said he doesn’t understand why and reckons it’s only happened twice in 16 years! 

“I’ve had to have a plate put in the front of the bone over the track, that was in two weeks ago and they said it’d be six weeks before I could walk on it again so it’s a bit touch and go for racing…” 

Those six weeks takes us to a week before TT practice, and while that means it’s highly unlikely McGuinness will race at the TT he hasn’t completely ruled it out.

“There’s no hope of me riding at the North West, but I’d love to do something at the TT. We’ll see… In my head it’s not out of the question but I think it might be in the organisers’ heads! 

“The only way to look at it really is I don’t want to hit the bottom of Bray Hill at 180mph and have my leg snap off… That’s no good for anybody. I haven’t got a magic wand, if I did trust me I’d have already used it by now. It’ll be a big ask to be there but we’ll see.”

Visibly distraught at the thought of how far he’d come to suffer a set-back, McGuinness was insistent this isn’t the end. 

“I’ve been in some shit places after the last ten months, struggled and had a lot of pain, so when I started walking again it felt mega. Everything was getting back on track, there was even time to do some testing ahead of the North West and TT. I felt mega, so this is like having the rug pulled from underneath you, like getting your hands in your bird’s knickers and not getting any further! You’re nearly there, you just didn’t get the final bit…

“The Norton factory is 100% behind me, I spoke to Michael Dunlop and he was the first person to say ‘look mate, go get yourself fit!’

“Michael has said if I can’t ride the TT the bike will still be there if I wanted to ride it somewhere else like the Ulster Grand Prix. Ryan Farquhar has said the same and the guys at Mugen are distraught. 

“Even if I don’t ride this year I will be back, no doubt about it. There’s the Classic TT and a few other meetings I’m looking at. The Norton deal is for more than one year, too, so the time will come to ride it, I might just have to be patient… 

“I have said all along that I wasn’t going to let an injury like this finish me, when I retire I want it to be on my terms. I want there to be a day where I get on a race bike and think ‘yep, that’s enough’, but right now I’m just itching to get back on one!”