'I've found the lowest of lows' - Michael Dunlop gives rare insight into personal heartbreak in new Isle of Man TT documentary 'No Room For Error'

Those are the words of Michael Dunlop, who briefly peels back his teak-tough façade to provide a rare insight into the personal loss he has suffered through motorcycle road racing in the gripping new Isle of Man TT documentary ‘No Room For Error’.

The visceral four-part series, which launches exclusively on ITV4 (9pm) and ITVX on Monday, May 22, provides an unflinching look at the physical, mental and moral challenges faced by every rider who tackles the infamous 37.73-mile Mountain Course, from 21-time winner Dunlop to green newcomers like Milo Ward and Rennie Scaysbrook, who set off down Glencrutchery Road for the first time in 2022.

Revered Ballymoney rider Dunlop is one of the biggest stars at the TT alongside veteran John McGuinness MBE – a 23-time winner who celebrated his 100th start last year – and Peter Hickman, the outright lap record holder at 135.452mph, whose four wins in a week last June increased his winning tally to nine since his first TT triumph in 2018.

At 34, Dunlop is the last bastion of his legendary family’s road racing dynasty.

His uncle Joey, still the most successful TT rider ever with 26 victories, died in a crash while racing in Estonia in 2000, weeks after famously winning the Formula One race at the TT aged 48 and completing a hat-trick with more success in the Ultra-Lightweight (125cc) and Lightweight (250cc) races.

Michael’s father, Robert – a five-time TT winner – lost his life in a crash at the North West 200 in 2008, while his older brother William – a TT podium finisher and multiple winner at the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix – was fatally injured in a crash at the Skerries 100 road races in 2018.

Dunlop and his family have paid an unthinkable cost, but his love for the sport, and the TT in particular, is a seemingly unbreakable bond.

“For me the TT was always the pinnacle and that was always my goal – to win a TT,” says Dunlop in ‘No Room For Error’.

“Nobody in my mind would have went through what I’ve been through and come back to do this if they didn’t love motorbikes.

“I personally love motorbikes, it’s been my life. I’ve had a fantastic lifestyle out of it. I’ve travelled the world and met some wonderful people, and some assholes as well. But I’ve met some wonderful people.

“But on the other hand I’ve found the lowest of the lows, so if it wasn’t for the passion of loving motorbikes I don’t think nobody in their right mind – especially of my state – they wouldn’t come back to do it.”

Filmed during TT 2022, ‘No Room For Error’ is a raw, behind-the-scenes examination of what motivates riders like Dunlop, McGuinness, Hickman, Dean Harrison and Sidecar kingpins – and brothers – Ben and Tom Birchall to risk it all in the pursuit of victory, juxtaposed with a backdrop of ‘normal’ family life – worried wives and girlfriends, and unknowing children.

“We cross each other’s paths and it’s like ‘how are you doing’ but I know they’ll all be shitting themselves,” says McGuinness. “We just cover it up a bit more.

“There’s no way they’re not thinking about what can go wrong or happen.”

Harrison freely admits that he contemplates the prospect of death at an event where six competitors lost their lives as a result of accidents in 2022.

“You do think about it sometimes. I do anyway,” acknowledges Harrison.

“I think everyone does and I think if you say you don’t you’re a liar. I think it’s always in the back of your mind somewhere.”

Supersport TT winner Lee Johnston, currently recovering in hospital after a heavy crash at the North West 200, almost laughs at the absurdity over his relief of ‘being still alive’ after completing a TT race.

“You’ve never got that at any other sport – the relief of being still alive. That’s what it is, isn’t it?

“Imagine finishing what you do for a living and being over the moon to be still alive.”

No Room For Error will be screened on four consecutive evenings on ITV4 at 9pm from May 22 and is also available on the ITVX streaming service. Outside the UK, the documentary is available on the TT’s streaming platform TT+.