TT stars past and present lined up for John McGuinness parade lap

A stellar line-up of TT stars past and present will take to the Mountain Course for the John McGuinness MBE Parade Lap later today (Tuesday).

With the 30-year career of McGuinness taking centre stage at the Classic TT this year, a dozen bikes that encapsulate his story will line up at the Grandstand for the lap which gets underway at 1.45pm.

The Morecambe Missile will be flanked by some of his closest friends and fiercest rivals in a true show of respect for a man whose name has transcended the sport.

Starting where it all began, the Paul Bird Motorsport-prepared Honda RS250 will return to the Mountain Course 30 years after McGuinness’ debut ride in 1996.

Originally competing in the Lightweight TT, the bike will fittingly be ridden by a Lightweight legend and 10-time TT winner, Ian Lougher.

Current TT rider liaison officer Richard 'Milky' Quayle ride the bike that took McGuinness to his first of 23 TT victories, the Vimto Honda TSR250 from 1999.

In a sign of what was to come, McGuinness stormed to victory in the 1999 Lightweight 250 TT, beating Manx-based Welshman Jason Griffiths by more than 30 seconds.

An often-forgotten feather in the McGuinness cap is his Singles TT victory, having won the final running of the category back in 2000 for his second TT win.

The bike he rode to another commanding victory that day, the Chrysalis AMDM, will join the parade, marking a key moment in the shaping of McGuinness’ career.

Jumping forward, 14-time TT winner and current lap record holder Peter Hickman will ride the Valmoto Triumph Daytona that Bruce Anstey rode to victory in the Junior 600cc TT.

Although known predominantly as a Honda rider, McGuinness’ first big-bike victory actually came aboard a machine from Japanese rivals Yamaha.

Riding a works R1 in 2004, McGuinness held on to beat Adrian Archibald’s Suzuki home in the week-opening Formula One TT.

All-time TT win record holder Michael Dunlop will have the privilege of riding the R1, a fitting tribute given Dunlop has taken a Yamaha R6 to the top step of the podium nine times in the Supersport class.

What came next was an era of Superbike dominance for McGuinness, winning every Superbike and Senior between 2005 and 2007.

His performance on the second lap of the 2007 Senior is remembered to this day as one of the most significant moments in TT history - the first 130mph lap of the 37 and three-quarter-mile Mountain Course.

Since that milestone 19 ago, only an additional 30 riders have joined the 130 club and it is still the benchmark for those looking to chase finishing positions at the head of the field.

McGuinness himself will line up on the HM Plant Honda that set that historic first 130mph on a bike that usually takes pride of place in his hallway.

While McGuinness was breaking records in 2007, Scotland’s Keith Amor was making his debut at the TT, beginning a career that would yield five podium results before his retirement in 2015.

All but three of Amor’s TT starts came on Honda machinery, so to see him back on a Fireblade will be a welcome return for fans of a certain age as he rides McGuinness’ Superstock bike that took him to second in 2007.

One of the most emotional memories for McGuinness came at the 2015 meeting when he recorded arguably his greatest TT win, which also happens to be his last - to date.

The Senior is remembered among some of the greatest in history, when McGuinness equalled Mike Hailwood’s record of seven Senior wins and set his personal best lap of 132.701mph, the modern equivalent of Joey Dunlop’s 2000 Formula One TT win.

Earlier that week, McGuinness entered a Fireblade under his own team, with backing from EMC2, in the Superstock class.

A family team entered bike requires a suitable rider for a parade like this, so it’s fitting that John’s brother Kurt will ride his 2015 Superstock Fireblade around the island for the parade lap.

Manxman Conor Cummins will have the honour of riding one of the most iconic McGuinness machines from his three decades of racing: the one-off gold-streaked Fireblade from McGuinness’s 100th TT start in the 2022 Superbike TT.

Bringing the collection full circle will be Dean Harrison aboard McGuinness's bike from this year’s TT.

Wearing a livery in homage to that PBM Honda RS250 from 1996, McGuinness turned back the years as he rode to an impressive fifth in the Superbike TT, a race dominated by team-mate and new Ballaugh resident Harrison.

The latter will ride the 2026 Honda Racing 30th anniversary Fireblade SBK at the tail end of the parade.