Home favourite Michael Dunlop returns for 'Race of Legends' bid at Armoy

The Ballymoney man withdrew from his home road race in North Antrim last year, claiming his MD Racing Team had been unfairly treated ‘compared to other teams’ at the event.

Dunlop had won the blue riband Superbike race at Armoy nine times running prior to missing the summer meeting a year ago.

In his absence, England’s Davey Todd obliterated the lap record with a new benchmark in excess of 108mph and became only the third different rider to win the ‘Race of Legends’ showpiece alongside Dunlop and fellow Ulsterman Ryan Farquhar.

The 34-year-old’s decision to return to Armoy is a massive boost for the organisers and is the news most road racing fans wanted to hear going into the final Irish road race of 2023.

A statement from the organisers on Thursday evening said: “We are delighted to confirm that Michael Dunlop will be racing this weekend. This is his home race and we're in no doubt that the Club and road racing fans alike will be delighted with this news.

“The course is set up and we are currently welcoming a steady number of visitors and riders to Armoy. We are just hoping the weather works with us over the next few days. We are looking forward to a safe few days and a great weekend of racing.”

Dunlop, who took part in a track day on the Hawk Honda at Cadwell Park this week, became the second most successful rider ever at the Isle of Man TT last month, winning four races to move onto 25 victories – one behind his legendary uncle Joey.

He was last in action at the ill-fated Southern 100 a few weeks ago, which was cancelled after only a handful of practice sessions following the death of Co Meath rider Alan Connor and 66-year-old marshal Liam Clarke, who was originally from Londonderry. A second rider and a spectator were also injured in the same incident.

Dunlop won the ‘Race of Legends’ for the first time in 2011 and retained the title each year until 2018, when the meeting was cancelled due to heavy rain. He was not in attendance at Armoy that year following the tragic death of his brother William in a crash at the Skerries 100 in Co Dublin only a few weeks earlier.

When Dunlop returned in 2019, he dominated for his eighth victory on the Tyco BMW.

The event was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 but Dunlop resumed normal service in 2021, making it nine wins in a row after proving unbeatable on the SYNETIQ BMW M1000RR.

Dunlop, who will also compete in the Supersport races on his MD Racing Yamaha R6, will go head-to-head with Milenco by Padgett’s Honda rider Todd and a host of top contenders on Saturday, including Derek Sheils on the Roadhouse Macau BMW and Mike Browne (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW).

Bradford’s Dean Harrison returns to Armoy for the first time since 2015 and will ride a 600cc Yamaha for Boyce Precision Engineering by Russell Racing, while Dominic Herbertson is entered for Dafabet Kawasaki.

The line-up also includes Adam McLean (J McC Roofing Racing), Paul Jordan (PreZ Racing), Darryl Tweed (Parker Transport Yamaha) and Neil Kernohan (Kernohan Racing Yamaha), although Jamie Coward misses out after sustaining a fractured hip in a cycling accident on Wednesday.

Coward made his debut at Armoy last July and won the Supertwin and inaugural Classic Superbike races.

Roads close at 11am on Friday for practice, with the Lightweight Supersport and first Supersport 600 races due to take place afterwards.

On Saturday, roads close at 9am for a 10-race programme.