Michael Dunlop vows to set record straight at 2025 Isle of Man TT after 'disappointment' of Superbike heartbreak
Michael Dunlop says last year’s Superbike heartbreak at the Isle of Man TT has given him extra motivation to set the record straight in 2025.
Dunlop, who was crowned Irish Motorcyclist of the Year at the Adelaide Irish Motorbike Awards in Belfast on Friday night, was denied an almost certain victory due to a visor issue, which forced him to stop at the top of Bray Hill at the beginning of the fifth lap.
Dunlop’s commanding lead was wiped out but he fought back to finish fourth, setting his fastest ever lap of the Mountain Course at 135.970mph on the Hawk Racing Honda – a new Superbike TT lap record and the quickest lap of the 2024 meeting.
The Ballymoney man won four races last June, setting a new record of 29 victories after breaking his uncle Joey’s long-standing benchmark of 26 wins.
However, Dunlop – who also won the International Road Racer of the Year award at the glittering bash at the Crowne Plaza Hotel – is still smarting from his cruel luck in the Superbike race.
“The year was tough with injury at the start of the year [after a crash at the Cookstown 100] and obviously the grim Superbike race at the TT which hampered our success,” Dunlop said.
“But breaking the record is a goal that me and the team had been trying to achieve for years.
“I was the fastest I’d ever been but not in the best condition I’ve ever been in with the hand injury I had going to the TT.
“With the Superbike race I was disappointed for the team; it was something out of our control. The visor wasn’t changed properly and sadly we lost the Superbike race.
“That gives us the motivation to go back and we should have been winning the Senior as well.
“I think we had fantastic pace and that gives you a bit of a push to go back again and prove that we’re able to win Superbike races.”
Dunlop says he is driven to ensure his famous family name remains the yardstick for road racing greatness as he prepares for another assault on the TT in 2025.
“It’s not getting any easier but as a family in total we’ve 60 TT wins between my dad, Joey and myself,” he said.
“My main goal is to try to keep the Dunlop name as high as we possibly can. I’m the only one left to do that so I just want to keep battering on.
“When you’ve that weight on your shoulders it’s not easy because obviously Joey was renowned for being the best road racer in the world.
“My dad, before his accident [at the TT in 1994], was becoming one of the best short circuit riders and road racers, so you’re always pushing that all the time.
“Obviously my main goal revolves around international road races whereas my dad and Joey were doing short circuits and world championships at the time, so trying to keep it going is my main prerogative.”