Michael Dunlop 'needs more time' to make British Supersport impact

The Ballymoney man was filling in for injured American rider Brandon Paasch on the three-cylinder machine in Simon Buckmaster’s PTR-run outfit.

Dunlop pulled was a retirement from Saturday’s Sprint race but finished a respectable 11th in the Feature race on Sunday at the Northamptonshire circuit.

The 19-time Isle of Man TT winner, who missed the Cookstown 100 at the weekend, said he ‘learned a lot’ about the factory-supported Triumph.

“It’s good now we’ve got a race under our belt, we missed yesterday’s [Saturday’s] race but we learned a lot about the bike,” Dunlop said.

“It’s been a very good weekend of trying to understand what the Dynavolt Triumph is doing and the team have worked really well. It was good to have the opportunity it’s just a pity we couldn’t get a bit further up but that’s something I need a wee bit more time to do.”

Team manager Buckmaster, who enjoyed success with Dunlop in the Supersport races at the TT after they linked up in 2013, felt the Northern Ireland rider ‘did a very good job’.

“In the sprint race Michael quite rightly pulled in on lap one when the red light came on but that was just an indicator of loss and gain, so a bit of miscommunication there over that,” he said.

“So, with minimal dry track time I think Michael did a really good job, he worked so well with the team and he improved every time he got on the bike.

“We get really good feedback from him, he’s a very experienced rider with a really good feel for a motorcycle and that will be an asset to both Kyle [Smith] and Brandon to help us keep making better steps with them looking to challenge for victories.

“We are used to fighting at the front, we didn’t do that this weekend but we really enjoyed working with Michael Dunlop again, so thanks to him and to the boys.”

The team suffered a further injury setback when Kyle Smith was ruled out for the rest of the season after crashing at Silverstone during free practice, fracturing his pelvis.