TT 2025: Michael Dunlop 'coming to his peak' says longtime sponsor and close friend Gary Ryan
Michael Dunlop made a solid start to Isle of Man TT practice on Tuesday after completing laps of the Mountain Course on all four of his machines.
The record 29-time winner was unofficially second fastest with a high 124mph lap on his BMW Superbike in the untimed session, with fellow Northern Ireland man Shaun Anderson quickest on the Team Classic Suzuki Superstock machine.
Dunlop is riding new 1000cc BMW Superbike and Superstock machinery and a Ducati Panigale Supersport bike along with his MD Racing Paton Supertwin.
The Ballymoney man has been in excellent form this year, winning his first races at the North West 200 since 2016 with a Superbike, Supersport and Superstock treble.
Conditions were far from ideal on Tuesday, with riders warned of wet patches around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course, but Dunlop’s longtime sponsor and close friend Gary Ryan said it was a good start to practice week.
“He seems happy enough but the conditions aren’t great,” said Ryan.
“It was nice to get a run around, get a feel for everything, then we’ll crack on.”
Dunlop has switched to the Ducati V2 for the Supersport races after winning the past six Supersport TTs on a Yamaha R6, but Ryan said the Italian machine was “the bike to be on”.
“It’s the bike to be on. You have to move on. The R6 did its job over the years,” he said.
“These are new generation bikes and you have to go with them. It’s good enough for the job, we proved that at the North West 200. Him around here could be even better.
“You can’t get over confident in this game but he’s definitely riding well – he’s been riding well since the start of the year, and at the North West 200.
“He got the monkey off his back last year [breaking his uncle Joey’s TT record] so he could have a good go at the North West 200.
“You’re so tense and uptight about getting [to the TT] that you can’t really have a good go at the North West 200, but we’ve proven that we had a good go.
“He’s riding really well, of course he is. He’s coming to his peak.”
Ryan joked that it was a “full-time job” ensuring his rider stayed calm and relaxed during the TT fortnight.
“It’s a full time job! He is relaxed,” Ryan said. “These two weeks are very important to him, we all know that.”
Dunlop is on the brink of a magical 30th TT success after a second consecutive four-timer last June, when he won both Supersport and Supertwin races.
The race schedule is set to commence on Saturday with the first Supersport and Sidecar TT races.