Michael Dunlop eyes Superbike charge at Isle of Man TT in 2023

The Ballymoney man became only the third rider in history win surpass 20 wins around the Mountain Course after clinching victories in both Supersport races in June on his MD Racing Yamaha.

Dunlop also shattered his 2018 lap record in the class, raising the bar to a remarkable 129.47mph as he edges closer to his prediction of a 130mph lap on a Supersport machine.

The 33-year-old’s double this year has moved him onto 21 wins in total, leaving him two behind John McGuinness and five behind his uncle Joey, who remains the most successful TT racer ever with 26 wins.

Dunlop finished on the podium in the Superbike TT in third place on the Hawk Racing Suzuki this year after pulling out of a deal to ride a Ducati Panigale V4R for Paul Bird’s team.

His last success in the premier class was in the 2018 Superbike TT, when Dunlop triumphed on the Tyco BMW in difficult circumstances for Northern Ireland’s TAS Racing team following the tragic death in practice of Manx rider Dan Kneen.

Since then, Peter Hickman has been the rider to beat in the Superbike and Senior races at the TT and holds the outright lap record of 135.452mph.

Dunlop, though, believes he can raise his level with the right preparation and a fully “sorted” Superbike next year.

“We were supposed to be riding a different Superbike but that fell through, so we were really on the back foot this year,” Dunlop said.

“Even with the 600 we were quite heavily on the back foot – the bike was good enough but we probably didn’t get enough time as we thought we should have had.

“The problem is I don’t have much of a choice because I’ve probably pissed off every team manager, every manufacturer, 95 per cent of the paddock and probably most people in the Isle of Man TT press – and I’m socially awkward!

“But it was good and it left me to believe that we still have something, and if we get our Superbike sorted properly we can go back to riding hard on it as well.”

Dunlop classed himself as an “underdog” this year as the TT returned for the first time in 2019 and says it is becoming harder than ever to emerge victorious.

“The job is getting harder and probably 99 per cent of people now don’t go road racing the way we went road racing,” he added on TT+.

“I learned from heritage and I can only go by how my dad did it and how Joey did it. Those boys drunk beer and smoked cigarettes.

“Nowadays people are wearing sunglasses and everybody is now an athlete.

“I’m the last of the pure breed road racer, apart from a couple of other lads from home. But there’s nobody from Ireland any more coming over and winning TTs.”

On his latest success in June, he added: “It was nice because I was the only person to break a lap record all week at the TT so it means we still have the speed. There’s definitely more in the tank.”