TT 2025: Michael Dunlop laments ongoing issue with BMW Superstock machine as a 'sickener' after fighting back for 50th podium
Michael Dunlop said an ongoing issue with his BMW Superstock machine was a “sickener” after he fought back from as low as 20th place to finish third for his 50th Isle of Man TT podium in the Opul Superstock race on Friday.
Dunlop had an electronics issue in the first Superstock race and the Northern Ireland rider experienced more trouble in the second encounter.
He was 20th at Glen Helen on the first lap after running on at Braddan, but Dunlop was able to salvage a record-extending podium even though he said afterwards he “probably should’ve pulled out”.
Dean Harrison (Honda Racing UK) won the race for a Superstock double by 16 seconds from Davey Todd (8TEN Racing BMW), with Dunlop 32.8s further in arrears.
“I don’t know what’s going on, we tried everything but something’s not working for some reason,” said Dunlop.
“Then I ran on – I just couldn’t get a gear – I ran on at Braddan and then I knew that was the race [over] after that. You can’t drop time against these boys and it was just damage limitation after that.
“I knew Davey [Todd] would be right behind. Davey didn’t start in the pits [issue restarting his machine after the compulsory pit-stop] and I wasn’t sure if he was going to restart or not, but I let him by again and there was no point in pushing on.
“We just got back to the podium and kept plugging away. We probably should have pulled in but we kept plugging away and brought it back.
“It’s hard when you’ve got the pace but you can’t deliver the pace, but you can’t afford to have small issues with these boys pushing so hard in this game,” he added.
“It’s something that’s been playing up all week and there’s nothing we can do about it, it’s down to them to sort. But you can’t give that away to those boys, not in this game, they’re hammering on and the pace is too hot for that.
“Once you have a small issue at all then it’s a massive one at the end up.
“It’s a bit of a sickener because I know I can win big bike races, we just need to get the job together to get there.”