TT 2023: Form man Michael Dunlop gunning for perfect ten in opening Supersport race

The 34-year-old set a new lap record in 2022 at 129.475mph and won both races on his MD Racing Yamaha R6 to increase his total to 21 wins on the TT Mountain course.

Dunlop has been blazing a trail during practice week and recorded the fastest Supersport lap in qualifying at 127.557mph on Thursday evening.

The island has been bathed in glorious sunshine all week and speeds have been increasing each day, with riders taking advantage of the opportunity to put in lap after lap around the 37.73-mile course.

With slick tyres permitted on Supersport machines this year, there is every chance of a 130mph milestone in the class – something Dunlop has long said was achievable.

The 34-year-old means business this year and will take some stopping in the four-lap opener (11:45), when victory would move him within one win of John McGuinness’s tally of 23 wins – three short of Joey Dunlop’s all-time record of 26 victories.

For Dunlop – the last bastion of his legendary family road racing dynasty – the TT is why he goes racing.

“For me the TT was always the pinnacle and that was always my goal – to win a TT,” he said.

“Nobody in my mind would have went through what I’ve been through and come back to do this if they didn’t love motorbikes.”

However, he also accepts that winning is never guaranteed, even if Dunlop has been doing that more than most at the TT, where he sealed his first win back in 2009.

“You can’t win everything. You’re going to get beat someday,” he said.

“There’s always going to be somebody faster come along, that’s for sure.

"All you can do is give it 110 per cent and if that’s good enough it’s good enough. And if it’s not it’s not.”

In final Supersport qualifying on Friday, his lap of 127.51mph – slightly slower than his best speed on Thursday evening – was 2.459s faster than Dean Harrison (BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha), who did 127.216mph from a standing start.

Milenco by Padgett’s Honda rider Davey Todd, another big contender in Saturday’s opening race, was third quickest at 127.715mph from Cork rider Mike Browne, who continues to shine for Dungannon team Burrows Engineering/RK Racing, lapping at 125.049mph on the Yamaha R6.

Peter Hickman managed to squeeze in a lap on the Trooper Triumph by PHR at 124.842mph after he stopped on his Yamaha R7 Supertwin machine at Greeba Castle and had to make his way back to the Grandstand, borrowing a BMW GS motorcycle from a fan. Hickman was also over the 127mph mark in qualifying and will be a chief threat to Dunlop.

In a record-breaking final Superbike session before Sunday’s first six-lap showpiece, Dunlop turned up the heat with his unofficial 135.531mph lap record on the Hawk Racing Honda.

He is riding a Fireblade in the Superbike class for the first time in a decade, when Dunlop won the Superbike TT on the factory Honda Legends machine for his maiden success in the class in 2013. Could history be about to repeat itself?

Hickman responded by setting his second fastest ever TT lap on the Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW at 134.91mph on his second lap, 4.612s down on Dunlop’s time.

When the 2022 Superbike and Senior winner was told that Dunlop had lapped at over 135mph, Hickman said: “Apparently so. It’s good, isn’t it?”

Asked if he had a gameplan, he replied: “I guess we’ll find out later.”

Harrison was third fastest on the DAO Racing Kawasaki as he clocked his best lap of practice week at 134.216mph on his flying lap, while Todd was fourth.

The Saltburn man did 132.194s from a standing start and is leading the charge for Clive Padgett’s team in the absence of Manx rider Conor Cummins, who is being treated in hospital for an infection and is set to miss this weekend’s opening races.

Australian Josh Brookes impressed in fifth with a speed of 131.098mph on the Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW, while 23-time winner John McGuinness rounded out the first six on the Honda Racing UK Fireblade (131.063mph).

Dunlop’s unofficial Supertwin lap record at 123.474mph from a standing start was head and shoulders above everyone else in the class. He went through for a second lap on the Paton but stopped at Union Mills.

Coward was second fastest with a speed of 121.08mph on the KTS Racing/Steadplan Kawasaki, 21.748s down on Dunlop.

The Monster Energy Supersport TT is scheduled for 11:45 on Saturday with the first 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT (three laps) at 14:15.