John McGuinness, MBE is about to hit a truly amazing milestone with his 2022 Isle of Man TT run. It’s going to be his 100th start on the world’s most famous mountain course, and naturally he’s very pleased about that. I mean, wouldn’t you be pleased, too? It’s an impressive accomplishment—made all the more so by the fact that he’s totted up an impressive 23 wins in his TT career—so far.
He also celebrated his 50th birthday quite recently—a fact that was giving him a bit of pause in the run-up to the 2022 IOMTT. Back in 2021, he very publicly debated with himself about whether or not he was going to do it, or whether he’d choose to retire instead after the past couple of TT cancellations.
All the numbers looked too good to resist. He knew he’d mark that 100th TT start, for one thing. He’d turn 50, and be racing the 2022 course at the half-century mark on this planet. There’s also the fact that in his last TT run, he finished with a DNF. Now, we all know racers generally want to win, but also: who wants to end a successful career on a DNF? (We may be nowhere near as good as McPint is on a bike, but that particular longing is super relatable.)
Then there was the case of the Queen’s Honors. A couple of years ago, the Queen awarded McGuinness an Order of the British Empire, which he’d gratefully and happily accepted. More recently, to kick off 2022, her majesty awarded him a Member of the Order of the British Empire medal. In both cases, the reasoning was the same: McGuinness received these awards for his services to motorcycle racing. With that kind of motivation, it seems like it would be extremely hard to call it quits prior to hitting all those milestones, you know?
While McGuinness still said he might retire after 2022, that’s a tomorrow problem. Today, it’s almost time for the 2022 IOMTT, which will be live-streamed for the first time ever so more fans around the world can see it in real time. If you’ll be at the TT in person, McGuinness will be the focus of a fan event on Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. It’s called “John McGuinness MBE: Ton Up,” and will feature him and some other racers and personalities trading stories from his phenomenal career. Tickets are available on the IOMTT Races website, and we’ll link it in our Sources.
