MAN TO MANX
“THAT’LL STAY DAMP FOR hours, that bit... Brake early into here, Glenn – get it lined up... It’s rough through here – they’ve resurfaced it, but they’ve only resurfaced the bumps!”
It’s no use. Perched in the back of a Honda HR-V, bunched up beside TT newcomer Glenn Irwin as he prepares for his much-delayed debut racing the infamous 37.73 miles of the Snaefell Mountain Course, I flip my notebook full of questions shut. Studiously typing info into his phone as team-mate John McGuinness sits up front, readily dishing out tips on how best to dissect each corner, my voice is unequivocally the least interesting in the car.
And I couldn’t be more content with that. As someone who’s long admired the gladiators who take on the Isle of Man, I’m lapping up his mentor’s advice too. Even if I’ll never put it to use myself.
Seeing the pair interact this way – Glenn’s feverish thumbs barely able to keep up as John natters at roughly the same velocity he rides this fearsome course – is a real privilege. It’s the first time Honda Racing UK’s 2022 riders have shared a car around the island and it’s clear that 23-times winner (and recent MBE) McGuinness cares far too much about
