‘We rounded up a few tins of beans and set off’ – John McGuinness on his first NW200 ahead of 30th anniversary

The Morecambe man first rode at the event in 1994 in the 250cc class on a TZ Yamaha.

McGuinness has won six times on the north coast, including three Superbike victories.

The 51-year-old suffered a nasty crash during qualifying at the North West in 2017, which left him with a badly broken right leg and several broken vertebrae.

However, that was a rare low point during the English rider’s long association with the famous road race, where McGuinness has accumulated so many special memories.

He was accompanied on his first trip with his girlfriend Becky, who is now his wife, after his father — who was also his mechanic — refused to go with him.

McGuinness explained: “We just rounded up a few tins of beans and soup and set off in the van. But my dad, who was my mechanic, didn’t want me to go road racing and he refused to come with us.”

A former 250cc British champion, McGuinness said the North West had always been on his radar after hearing stories about the Irish road race from his friends.

“I had been competing in the British championships but I wanted to be a road racer,” he said.

“I’d read all the books, listened to the stories and my mates Lee Pullan, Mick Lofthouse and David Jefferies, were all doing it.

“It seemed the natural thing to do and I was offered a free boat and a free entry to race in 1994 which now, in this day and age, is unheard of.”

A stalwart of the event, McGuinness is part of a strong three-man Honda Racing UK Team that includes new recruit Dean Harrison and Manx prospect Nathan Harrison, who missed most of last season after crashing at the North West.

McGuinness achieved his last win with a Superbike victory in 2012 and admits his chances of fighting for the top step of the rostrum are realistically over.

“This year the goal for me is to help Dean Harrison, my new Honda team-mate, win at the North West and I want Nathan to have a safe race,” he said. “For me, I just want to go out and enjoy myself.

“During the last couple of years I’ve maybe been under the radar a little bit in fifth, sixth or seventh but I’m more than happy with that. It’s all I’ve got in my armoury these days — a decent, fast, safe ride and if I finish 10th I’m 10th, or if it’s fourth it’s fourth.

“If I got on to the podium it would be the icing on the cake.”