Michael Dunlop announces PBM Ducati ride for 2020 Isle of Man TT
Michael Dunlop has announced on social media that he is set to ride a Ducati V4 for Paul Bird’s British Superbike team at the international road races in 2020.
Dunlop tweeted the news on Saturday evening after revealing recently that he was ‘open to offers’ in terms of a Superbike ride for the season ahead.
The Ballymoney man said: “Well here it is, Superbike ride for 2020 and doesn’t it look mean as.”
Dunlop rode the bike for the first time at the official British Superbike test at Jerez in Spain on Sunday.
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His legendary uncle Joey previously had an association with Paul Bird after famously winning the TT Formula 1 race in 2000 on the Demon Vimto Honda SP-1 as part of a treble, which set a record of 26 wins around the Mountain Course that still stands today.
Dunlop has also worked with Bird in the past, teaming up in 2011 when he won the Superstock race on a PBM-prepared Kawasaki for his first big-bike success at the TT.
Paul Bird’s team last entered the TT in 2015 with Ian Hutchinson, who won the Superstock race on a Kawasaki ZX-10R and finished second and third in the Superbike and Senior races respectively on Kawasaki ZX-10R machinery.
Dunlop competed in the Superbike class for the Tyco BMW team over the past two seasons and won the Superbike race at the TT in 2018 under tragic circumstances after team-mate Dan Kneen was killed in a crash during practice.
He won the Lightweight TT race last year on the Italian Paton machine to move onto 19 victories around the Mountain Course, although he struggled in the bigger capacity classes after injuring his wrist in a spill during testing prior to the North West 200.
The 30-year-old's first outing on the roads on the PBM Ducati will be at the North West 200 in May.