British Superbike frontrunner Irwin made his long-awaited TT debut in 2022 with Honda and stunned from the outset.
Having posted an impressive 128.8mph lap on his Honda Fireblade Superbike at the end of practice week, Irwin set the fastest ever newcomers lap in his maiden race in the opening Superbike TT.
Riding on his way to eighth, Irwin beat Peter Hickman’s fastest newcomer record from 2014 with a 129.5mph lap – something he later admitted he “didn’t expect” would happen.
Speaking to Autosport ahead of the final race day at the 2022 TT, 23-time winner McGuinness said Irwin was “going to be a force to be reckoned with” in the future at the event.
“I don’t want to sit here and blow wind up his arse, because that’s the last thing you want to do at this moment in time,” he said when asked about Irwin’s performance on his TT debut.
“But after the TT I will stand here and blow wind up his arse.
“I mean, 129.5mph is insane. To be a newcomer and do 129.5mph is off the chart, to be fair. I don’t think anyone can understand that, really.
“To be actually sat on the bike and to be threading the needle on that Superbike through them bends at that speed, you are an immense talent and he’s done his homework. He’s gone faster than I have at this meeting, so there you go!
“To be honest, he can have every single bit of information he wants from me. If I can help him out a little bit, which we have done here, there and everywhere.
“But he’s new generation and they’re moving the goalposts from where I was.
“So, you’ve just got to let him run now. We’ve had him on the range for a little bit, now we’ve just got to let him go.
“But there’s absolutely no question that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future for sure.”
Irwin only contested the big bike races at TT 2022 and failed to finish both the Superstock race and the Senior TT finale due to bike issues.
