Record 29-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop continues with Hawk Racing in 2025 as Superbike and Senior start numbers revealed

The Ballymoney man is entered under the Hawk Racing/MD Racing banner for the Superbike and Senior races at this year’s TT.

He will continue to ride with the number six plate after the start numbers for the 1000cc races were announced on Wednesday, however the 36-year-old’s choice of machinery remains unconfirmed.

Dunlop has ridden a Honda Fireblade CBR10000RR-R prepared by Hawk Racing over the past two seasons, but has recently tested a BMW M1000RR at Kirkistown race track in Co Down.

He won the Superbike TT in 2023 on the Honda and was on course to repeat the feat last year until his commanding lead was wiped out on the penultimate lap, when Dunlop was forced to stop at the top of Bray Hill to adjust an incorrectly fastened visor on his helmet.

However, he smashed the lap record when he rejoined the race, setting his quickest ever speed around the Mountain Course and the fastest lap of last year’s TT at 135.970mph to claw his way back to fourth place.

Dunlop has strong ties to BMW after riding for the German manufacturer for the first time in 2014, when he famously won the Senior race on the Hawk Racing BMW, 75 years after BMW’s last victory in the historic race when Georg Meier emerged victorious.

Dunlop also won the Superbike and Superstock races in the same year on S1000RR machinery.

Two years later, he clinched a Superbike and Senior TT double on a Hawk Racing-prepared BMW S1000RR in 2016, setting the first sub-17 minute lap of the iconic 37.73-mile and the first 133mph average lap.

Another BMW success followed in 2018, when Dunlop claimed the Superbike TT spoils for Northern Ireland team TAS Racing in emotional circumstances following the tragic death of his team-mate, Manx rider Dan Kneen, in an incident in qualifying.

He later rode a BMW M1000RR for the TAS team at Armoy in 2021 and won the Open and ‘Race of Legends’ Superbike events, setting a then lap record for the three-mile Co Antrim course at 106.945mph.

He then rode a Suzuki GSXR-1000R for Hawk Racing in 2022 at the North West 200 and TT before making the switch to a Honda Superbike the following year.

In January, Dunlop paid a warm tribute to his MD Racing team and Stuart and Steve Hicken of Hawk Racing as he won the Irish Motorcyclist of the Year accolade in Belfast, picking up the Joey Dunlop trophy for the second time.

“Obviously I take the glory but the lads do the hard work,” he said.

“They deserve the credit too and they might just think they’re background people, but they are the people.

“They don’t get recognised enough and I’ve got sponsors who throw money in day in, day out to achieve what we’re achieving.

“I take the glory because I’m the boy pulling the trigger but they’re the boys [who make it happen].

“Stuart Hicken [team owner, Hawk Racing] who is here tonight has put his house into it and people like him spend their own money to do a job – Gary (Ryan, sponsor), all the boys – they genuinely put their own hard-earned cash in for me to succeed.

“Sometimes I don’t understand what they get out of it, bar hopefully pleasure and the likes of this [award] and the TT. Hopefully they get enough out of it and we can give them a clap on the back too.”

Hawk Racing are running John McPhee and Charlie Nesbitt on the MasterMac Honda machines in this year’s British Superbike Championship.

Dunlop is set to compete in the Le Mans 24-Hours race this weekend in France in the Endurance World Championship Superbike class on a BMW M1000RR with Team LRP Poland.

He followed a similar path in 2024, competing at Le Mans on a Honda Fireblade for French outfit TRT27 in the Superstock class as part of his preparations for the major road races.

Dunlop is entered on a Ducati Panigale V2 for the Supersport TT races and a Paton in the Supertwin class.

In June, TT great John McGuinness will retain the number one plate in the Superbike, Superstock and Senior races for the third time in four years on the Honda Racing UK Fireblade.

Northern Ireland’s Paul Jordan is seeded at number 20 on the Jackson Racing powered by Prosper2 Honda, with team-mate Josh Brookes at number seven.

Banbridge man Shaun Anderson starts at number 17 on the Team Classic Suzuki.

The top 20 seeded riders are as follows:

1 John McGuinness | Honda Racing UK | Honda

2 David Johnson | Platinum Club Racing Kawasaki | Kawasaki

3 Dean Harrison | Honda Racing UK | Honda

4 Jamie Coward | KTS Racing powered by Stanley Stewart | BMW

5 James Hillier | TBC

6 Michael Dunlop | Hawk Racing / MD Racing

7 Josh Brookes | Jackson Racing powered by Prosper2 | Honda

8 Davey Todd | 8TEN Racing | BMW

9 Mike Browne | MLav Racing | BMW

10 Peter Hickman | 8TEN Racing | BMW

11 Conor Cummins | Burrows Engineering / RK Racing | BMW

12 Ian Hutchinson | MLav Racing | BMW

13 Dominic Herbertson | TBC

14 Craig Neve | Bathams AJN Racing | Honda

15 Rob Hodson | SMT Racing | Honda

16 James Hind | North Lincs Components | Honda

17 Shaun Anderson | Team Classic Suzuki | Suzuki

18 Philip Crowe | Handtrans / Nigel Appleyard / AgriWash UK | BMW

19 Nathan Harrison | H&H Motorcycles | Honda

20 Paul Jordan | Jackson Racing powered by Prosper2 | Honda