TT 2025: Michael Dunlop toasts historic Ducati victory for 30th win - 'I needed to get stuck in'
Michael Dunlop broke new ground at the Isle of Man TT with a milestone 30th victory in the first Supersport race on Monday, securing Ducati’s first TT success in 30 years.
It was also a seventh TT win for Dunlop with a different manufacturer – also a record – with the Ulsterman winning around the Mountain Course on Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW and Paton machinery.
Dunlop’s victory extended his unbeaten run in the class to seven wins since 2022, with his previous six Supersport wins achieved on Yamaha R6 machines.
He had to work hard for his first victory of this year’s TT after Honda Racing rider Dean Harrison pulled a lead of 7.4s after an opening lap of 127.88mph, with Dunlop managing 126.993mph on the Milwaukee Ducati Panigale V2.
After the pit stop, Dunlop began to eat into Harrison’s lead and the gap was down to 2.936s at the end the second lap.
The Ballymoney rider began to up the ante on the third and final lap and slashed Harrison’s advantage to 0.8s at Glen Helen, before moving ahead on corrected time at Ballaugh by 0.104s.
Dunlop had the momentum and had increased his lead to 3.4s by the time they reached Ramsey hairpin for the final time.
The 36-year-old was on course to shatter his 2023 lap record but high winds on the Mountain impacted his chances, although Dunlop still recorded the fastest lap of the race at 130.313mph to win convincingly in the end by 10.229s.
Dunlop’s victory is the first at the TT for Ducati since Robert Holden won the1995 Singles race.
James Hillier returned to the podium on the Bournemouth Kawasaki for the first time since 2019, coming home a further 45 seconds behind, with Superbike race winner Davey Todd (Milenco by Padgett’s Honda) in fourth.
Dunlop said: “It was nice to get into the thirties and obviously the first [Superbike] race was a nightmare with things going wrong with the bike and stuff, so I just thought I needed to get stuck in for this race.
“It’s nice that it’s 30 years since Ducati has won a race around here and it’s my 30th, and all the rest of it.
“Ducati was keen and dabbled their hand in last year, and obviously came back with the V2, the next generation, and they wanted me to come and try and win a TT.
“It’s worked out well, it’s another manufacturer for me,” he added.
“I said to the boys that because of the lack of practice it’s been impractical – we’re still doing changes in the pits, which isn’t practical and it shouldn’t be the case, but it’s just lack of lap time and set-up really with new bikes, which has sort of come back to haunt us a wee bit.
“Dean went out of the traps banging and what we done in the pits helped, but we can make another step for the next race and hopefully get a lot better.”
Runner-up Harrison said there was nothing he could do to hold off Dunlop’s Ducati charge.
“Honestly, I’m over the moon with that to be fair because the Ducati is so fast through the speed traps,” said Harrison. “So, I knew I had to go hard from the start and go as fast as I could because I knew he would come strong later on in the race.
“It’s nice to battle at the front and be there or thereabouts – good start to the week. That’s [Honda] all it’s got. We can’t improve what we have. This is all we have here with us.
“That [Ducati] is a new-generation bike, we’re 6mph down through the [speed] trap. We’re not going to find any more power through the week, so we’ll just do the same again in race two.”
Australian Josh Brookes finished fifth (Jackson Racing Honda by Prosper2) with Rob Hodson in sixth on the SMT Yamaha.
James Hind (North Lincs Components Suzuki) and Dominic Herbertson (HRRC/Gilbert Browne & Son Ltd Ducati) were the top eight, with Ian Hutchinson (MLav Racing Yamaha) and Manxman Conor Cummins (Burrows/RK Racing Ducati) completing the top ten.