McGuinness will ride North West 200 despite wrist injury

John McGuinness will definitely be racing at the 2014 North West 200.

That is the message the ‘Morecambe Missile’ is sending to his fans as he recovers from injury after crashing his dirt bike this week.

The six times North West winner broke his right wrist in a heavy fall that also left him with damaged ribs and two black eyes but he is certain he will be fit and ready to race at Portrush on May 17.

“I have already had a couple of operations on the wrist by one of the top surgeons in the country and he is really happy with the way it all worked out.” McGuinness explained.

“I have a light cast on the wrist now. I have to let it rest for a few weeks and then I will have a month to get ready for the North West in May.”

The factory Honda star has been upset by speculation that his rivals will regard his misfortune as an ‘opportunity’ as he revealed that he has had encouraging ‘get well soon’ calls from Irish rivals, Michael Dunlop and Ryan Farquhar.

“Ryan and Michael wished me well and said that they wanted to be racing against me at the North West and TT. We all know that any of us can get hurt riding bikes and racers always look out for each other. That is the way road racing is.”

“Things could have been a lot worse because it was a heavy crash in the middle of nowhere.” the 20 times TT winner explained.

“I punched a big hole in my helmet and I’ve two black eyes to go with my sore wrist and ribs but time is a great healer and I am well on the road to recovery now. I’ll be at the North West 200 press launch on March 31 to meet all the fans and I’ll definitely be back again on my bike for race week.”