TT 2016: Michael Dunlop disqualified from Supersport results

Dunlop had finished second behind Ian Hutchinson. As a result of the disqualification, Dean Harrison now moves up to second place with James Hillier in third.

Northern Ireland’s Mar-Train Racing team later accepted responsibility for the ‘illegal element’ in the engine after supplying Dunlop with the motor for the TT.

A statement issued on behalf of the team said: “The illegal element within this engine was a set of coated cam buckets, which had been legal two years ago when the engine was originally built.

“This has been a spare engine and as such was fully refreshed to again be our spare engine for the 2016 TT.

“An oversight due in part to personnel changes in the team as well as a change in engine builder has meant that this obvious irregularity was missed.

“Our crew-chief mistakenly assumed that this engine had seen use in 2015 and that it would be in compliance with the rules. Our engine builder, subsequently, and in good faith, refreshed and prepared the engine as he received it.

“We trust that anyone who knows the team, including the TT technical inspectors, will understand that this embarrassing oversight does not reflect the specification of machine we usually put on the grid. It goes without saying that the rider being excluded from the results could very well have been our own in this instance.

“We are gutted for Michael, his team and sponsors and can only apologise for this oversight on our behalf. We fully understand the effort that goes into achieving a TT podium and can therefore appreciate just how they must feel right now.”