Keith Amor (bottom), Steve Plater (left) and John McGuinness (center) make up the all-new TT Legends Honda racing team, which will compete in the Isle of Man TT, North West 200 and FIM Endurance World Championship.
Motor Europe has announced the creation of the TT Legends racing team. The new enterprise will campaign the famed
Isle of Man TT and North West 200 road races, as well as the FIM Endurance World Championship. The team earns its moniker via its two top riders, John McGuinness and Steve Plater, two of the winningest competitors in road racing history. The duo will be joined by rising road racing star Keith Amor.
McGuinness alone is a 15-time TT winner, second only to the late Joey Dunlop in all-time victories at the Isle. The Englishman will continue to race the TT, where he will look for win 16 and regaining the title “King of the Mountain” as the fastest man on the 37.73-mile mountain circuit (McGuinness was the first to burn a 130 mph lap). The 38-year-old will also compete in the North West 200, where he took a Superbike win in 2010. New for the former British 250cc champ will be a full-season stint in the FIM Endurance championship.
“I did the Le Mans 24 hour race about seven years ago, when we finished eighth,” said McGuinness in a Honda press release. “It was exciting at the end but pretty hard work in the middle! But I’m really looking forward to a full season. I was a little surprised when we first started talking about it but when Honda explained the thinking behind it, it floated my boat straight away. I’ve raced in a lot of classes over the years, and of course I’ll continue with the Northwest and the TT, but to be in a team capable of winning a world championship can’t be bad! I still get the buzz of anticipation and nerves jangling on the roads, and I certainly want to win more TTs before I finish. And I’m really excited about the idea of a British round of the Endurance World championship at Donington – we really want the British fans to get behind us and to give endurance racing more kudos in the UK. If everything goes to plan, we’ll be there or thereabouts – there is no reason why we can’t do the business!”
Plater will anchor the FIM Endurance racing effort, having finished second in the championship on multiple occasions. Like McGuinness, Plater is a multi-TT and NW200 winner, but the 40-year-old will not contest the roads this year. Instead, the Englishman will focus exclusively on the FIM Endurance events (Plater’s 2010 road racing season was spoiled by a high-speed crash at the North West, which left him with a broken wrist).
Said Plater of his 2011 plans: “I’ve been riding in the World Endurance championship for something like 12 years and finished runner-up twice so it’ll be good to go back there and win it with a good team! I won’t be doing any road racing next year – that’ll just be John and Keith – but I’ll still be involved with the team and helping wherever I can. I wanted to concentrate on the endurance side of things for 2011 and it’s great that Honda Motor Europe has come in to explore and this side of racing too.”
Keith Amor scored his first career NW200 victory in 2010 aboard the BMW S1000RR. The Scotsman will compete aboard the TT Legends Honda in 2011.
Amor will team with McGuinness on the roads this season, where the Scotsman has proven a consistent podium threat. Amor has a pair of TT podiums to his credit, as well as scoring his first career NW200 victory, taking the Superstock win in 2010 aboard the BMW S1000RR (the first NW200 victory for the Bavarian marque). The 30-year-old Amor will also pitch in during the 24-hour endurance races at Le Mans and Bol d’Or.
“It’s certainly going to be a challenge combining the roads with World Endurance racing, but I think it’ll be fun and I can’t wait to get going,” said Amor. “There’ll be some new tracks to learn, and I’ve never done any endurance racing before so there’ll be a lot to take in. But I rode for Honda on the roads last year and there’s really no better team in the paddock. It’s a huge opportunity for me to be more involved with Honda and the TT Legends World Endurance team, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
TT Legends Honda riders McGuinness and Amor will look to uproot the current dominant force in TT road racing – Padgetts Honda’s Ian Hutchinson, who took an unprecedented sweep of the Isle of Man TT races in 2010. Other significant off-season road racing moves include Guy Martin signing with the TAS Suzuki squad, with former TT winner Cameron Donald re-signing with TAS before leaving the team "by mutual consent" last week to sign with Martin's former squad, Wilson Craig Racing.
