British road racer and 23-time Isle of Man TT winner is 'very interested' in riding for Norton at the 2018 edition of the Tourist Trophy. Forty-five-year-old McGuinness is recovering from a serious crash at the North West 200 last year which left him with back and leg injuries. McGuinness revealed that he had already had talks about the 2018 IOMTT event with the Tyco BMW team and Kawasaki, as well as the Norton team with a view to compete at the Isle of Man in June. However, he is still not certain if he will be fit enough to compete at the TT in June.
"Everyone is paying attention to Norton now and Josh Brookes missed the TT for two years and then did 131mph on it and finished sixth or seventh, so I'm very, very interested in it but nothing is signed.I just want to ride again and I don't want to finish like I did, going through a fence at the North West and landing on a golf course," said McGuinness.
The Norton V4 RR features a 1200 cc V4 engine making 200 bhp
"At the moment I'm a 45-year-old ex-brickie with a manky leg, so I'm worth nothing. I'm just trying to keep my options open. I met with Honda last week and the boss came to see me at the house and we sat down and spoke about everything, but we shook hands and I decided it was time for me to move on and do some other things. I've had so much success with Honda and it's been amazing - ups and downs and a few rows with [Neil] Tuxworth, my boss, along the way - but it's part of the job and the roller coaster of racing.
"I just needed to do something else for my own sanity. I spoke to TAS, BMW and Kawasaki and I've also thought about running something myself, and also I've spoken to Norton. It will probably be a last-minute dash around mid-May before I can really know if I can be there [at the TT], so I've got to just put my entries in and then see if I can do it. I had an X-ray last Friday and the results were brilliant to be fair. The surgeon has done the job right from the start and he says I'm healing like a 30-year-old and everything is going well," McGuinness added.
McGuinness has also been in touch with Mugen and may compete in the TT Zero race once again. The Japanese electric motorcycle team intends to run three machines this year and McGuinness is in line to return to this class after missing out last year due to injury. But all this will depend on whether McGuinness will be fit enough in time to train and participate in the most famous and deadliest road races in the world.
