TT 2025: Michael Dunlop says 'the tyre was gone' following narrow defeat in Superbike race after battle with Davey Todd
Michael Dunlop was left to reflect on what might have been in the RST x D30 Superbike race at the Isle of Man TT after losing out by 1.3s after 150 miles of racing.
The Ballymoney man claimed the runner-up spot behind Davey Todd (8TEN Racing BMW), with Honda’s Dean Harrison 43.5s further adrift in third.
Dunlop had capitalised on a slow pit stop for Todd to slash to deficit and mounted a charge on the ROKiT BMW, closing the deficit to a quarter-of-a-second at Glen Helen on the fourth and final lap.
However, the 36-year-old lost some time when he struggled to pass Harrison cleanly, while Dunlop later said rear tyre problems further hampered his bid for a 30th TT win.
“It just fell apart and sadly that’s what happened,” said Dunlop of his tyre woe.
“Pit stop, we did really well, back wheel changed, fuel in and out the gate, and everything felt good.
“But just obviously we had no practice this week and with the horrific lap times we were doing, making the next step up obviously is into a new position and we needed some changes to the suspension and stuff really, going from 132mph to 135mph.
“We knew straightaway we were just going to struggle with set-up; Steve [Hicken, Hawk Racing] made a good change and at Kirkmichael I got caught a wee bit with Dean [Harrison] and it was just too much.
“Dean was having a bit of a tank-slapper here and there and I made a wee push over Rhencullen, which probably wasn’t the place to do it, but I had to get in.
“But I knew the tyre was [done] and you can obviously see the state of it now; we just lost traction control and she just started spinning her brains out.”
Dunlop revealed his rear tyre hugger had been shattered as his 1000cc Superbike began losing grip.
“It’s a pity because I felt good, we made a massive step, but I knew the back tyre was gone and I got a slap and it broke the back hugger when it was starting to deteriorate,” he said.
“So I just knew I had a humongous amount of spin and when we got that I knew it was going to be a hard push.
“I knew Davey was having a push as well and you had to have all your ducks lined up to make sure it worked, and it didn’t, but that’s the name of the game.”
Last year, Dunlop missed out on a Superbike win after losing a 25-second lead when he was forced to stop to fix an incorrectly fitted visor on his helmet with two laps remaining.
The record 29-time winner set the fastest lap in Monday’s Superbike TT at 135.416mph, with Todd’s final lap coming in at 135.327mph.