Michael Dunlop already has one eye on 2027 after Classic TT treble and vows to make one big change to 'try and achieve something'
Michael Dunlop already has one eye on 2027 after completing a hat-trick at the Classic TT, with the Northern Ireland rider determined that he won’t be left on the back foot next season.
Dunlop found himself playing catch-up in the premier Superbike class after being forced to shelve his plans to ride a Ducati Panigale V4R.
The record 36-time Isle of Man TT winner took late delivery of the Italian machine in April and tested the bike at Oulton Park, but Dunlop decided against riding the Ducati at the North West 200 and TT.
He issued a statement before the North West and said he hoped to ride the exotic racer on the roads “in the future”.
Describing the machine as a “full World Superbike version”, he said the bike needed further development after it arrived “to the team at very late notice”.
He added: “We are looking forward to working along with Ducati so we can put the project in a good place and get testing done before we get it to the roads in the future.”
Instead, Dunlop raced a Honda Fireblade for the Hawk Racing team and although he finished third in the Superbike TT, he was well below what he has shown he is capable of in the past.
The 36-time TT winner was 28 seconds down on Dean Harrison and 12.4s adrift of runner-up Peter Hickman.
Afterwards, Dunlop vowed he wouldn’t “be caught like this again”.
“The situation we’ve been in, it’s been pretty tough with the big bikes,” Dunlop said at the TT.
“We know what the problem is, and it seems we can’t really do much to solve it.
“I think the problem we have is going to be here for the next week, but I’ll not be caught like this again.
“It’s a frustrating race coming here knowing what you can do and not even getting near what you can do.”
Following his victory in Tuesday’s Senior race at the Classic TT on the Team Classic Suzuki GSX-R750, Dunlop turned his focus to next year and said he won’t make the same mistake twice.
“There’ll not be much more happening now,” he told Manx Radio.
“The year’s nearly over, we’ll what happens and obviously try and achieve something next year – try and get bikes sorted earlier and try and get more sponsors in.”