A gathering of riders to celebrate John McGuinness’s 30 years at the TT was the highlight of back-to-back road race launches last weekend.

The Morecambe Missile made his Mountain Course bow in 1996 following a late decision to enter the TT.

He was riding for Paul Bird’s team in the 250cc British championship but made his North West 200 debut in early May.

‘It went really well so we made enquiries to see if we could get a late entry for the TT,’ said the 54-year-old on Friday.

‘The organisers accepted and I was given start number 71 for the Lightweight. I went ok in practice so they moved me up to 19 for the race when I finished 15th. I guess the rest is history,’ added the Honda UK rider who will again start from his preferred number one for the four 1,000cc races. He will not contest the Supersport class.

McGuinness was later joined on stage at the Gaiety Theatre by several of his contemporaries and team-mates - past and present - for a special live podcast which can be watched free on TT+.

The same evening island sidecar stars Ryan and Callum Crowe launched their 2026 season to a full-house of friends, family and sponsors at the Victory Cafe. During an interview they predicted that lap and race speeds for the sidecars would reduce significantly this year due to new rules and power restrictions to engines.

On Saturday evening, the Pre-TT Classic and Southern 100 Billown meetings were launched to another packed house at Castletown Civic Centre.

Reigning S100 solo champion Davey Todd was not in attendance as he has been undergoing specialist treatment in Pisa since suffering multiple injuries in a crash at Daytona in March.

In an audio/video recording he stated that recovery was moving along positively and he was focused on returning to racing in the not-too-distant future. ‘My aim is to defend my Southern 100 title in July,’ he said.