John McGuinness is set to ride the Lightweight TT for the first time since 2004 astride the recently-unveiled 650cc Norton Superlight.

The 23-time winner will return to the TT proper for the first time in two years since fracturing his leg at the 2017 North West 200.

McGuinness was only fit enough to take part in a couple of parade laps at this year’s TT, but went on to win the Senior Classic TT on a 500cc Paton in his comeback ride over the Mountain Course in August.

The Norton Superlight, which was unveiled at the Motorcycle Live Show in Birmingham recently, weighs only 158kg in standard road trim, and will produce 105bhp from the 650cc parallel-twin engine.

John made his TT debut in the 1996 Lightweight, claiming his first win over the Mountain Course riding a 250cc Vimto Honda in 1999, later notching up back-to-back wins in the revised Lightweight on a 400cc Honda-4.

He was not able to contest the new 650cc ’Supertwin’ Lightweight class because of contractual constraints as Honda did not manufacture a machine suitable for the category.

But, having now signed for Norton and the company’s owner Stuart Garner announcing the launch of the Superlight, it offers John the opportunity to contest the race alongside his big bike rides on the V4 in the Superbike and Senior races.

Teams who announced their plans for 2019 at the NEC Show included the Smiths BMW outfit with star of the 2018 meeting, outright lap record holder Peter Hickman, re-signing for the new international road racing and British Superbike campaigns.

Padgetts Motorcyles unveiled their new Milenco livery with Bruce Anstey and Conor Cummins, while Kawasaki confirmed that Silicone Engineering Racing will become the official Kawasaki road racing team.