Michael Dunlop puts Isle of Man TT success down to 'heritage' of family's legendary road racing dynasty

The Ballymoney man became only the third rider in the history of the event to rack up 20 or more wins around the Mountain Course this year, sealing a double in the Supersport class and setting a new lap record at 129.475mph on his MD Racing Yamaha R6.

Only his legendary uncle Joey with 26 wins and England’s John McGuinness (23) have triumphed more times around the Mountain Course.

Still only 33, Dunlop – now a 21-time winner – could conceivably match or even surpass Joey’s record in the next few years, although winning TTs is never a foregone conclusion and the gritty Ulsterman still has some way to go yet.

Dunlop, who made his TT debut in 2007, says he is the last of the old-school Irish road racers capable of winning on the biggest stage of all at the TT and reveals he bases his approach to the sport on what he learned from his father Robert and uncle Joey.

“I learned from heritage and I can only go by how my dad did it and how Joey did it,” he said.

“Those boys drunk beer and smoked cigarettes. Nowadays people are wearing sunglasses and everybody is now an athlete: A protein shake for me is a pint of beer.

“I think it’s annoying for some of those people too because I don’t ride motorbikes all year – I think this year we did seven or eight races – but I can rock up at the TT and still can win races,” Dunlop added on TT+.

Dunlop, who has been linked with a return to Honda Superbike machinery for 2023, was denied a treble at the TT in June when he was forced out on the final lap of the Supertwin race on his Paton as he battled with Peter Hickman for the lead.

He finished third in the opening Superbike TT on the Hawk Racing Suzuki but went into the event on the back foot after withdrawing from his deal to ride a Ducati Panigale V4R for Paul Bird due to a lack of testing and preparation.