With Michael Dunlop in the ascendancy in 2013 and 2014, and Ian Hutchinson back to his best after injury, many people had written John McGuinness off ahead of the 2015 Senior - his only podiums since victory in the same race two years before had come in the TT Zero Races.
Hutchinson and Superbike Race winner Bruce Anstey were the favourites as Dunlop continued to nurse injuries from a crash in the Superbike Race, but having seen the bookies’ odds making him 18-1 for the win, McGuinness was fired up to a level of determination that hadn’t been seen in some time.
The race was red-flagged on the opening lap after Jamie Hamilton crashed at the fast Molyneux’s corner at the end of the Cronk-y-Voddy straight but on the re-run, McGuinness’s opening lap of 131.850mph gave him a 1.2 second lead over Hutchinson. And with a stunning new outright lap record of 132.701mph second time around, that gap increased to 11 seconds.
Hutchinson had over-shot at Signpost Corner, but McGuinness’s riding explained some of the increased margin too. Having grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck, he came home 14.2 seconds clear of James Hillier with Hutchinson third. It was, without doubt, one of McGuinness’s finest victories around the TT Mountain Course.
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