Michael Dunlop says he showed once again what he is capable of “when the bike is good and I’m good” after winning his 34th Isle of Man TT race in the opening Monster Energy Supersport event on Tuesday.

The Northern Ireland rider extended his unbeaten run in the middleweight class to nine straight victories after beating Honda Racing’s Dean Harrison by 24.470s in the three-lap race, which was delayed after overnight rain, with damp patches still reported around the 37.73-mile course before the 3pm start time.

Peter Hickman (Swan Racing by PHR Performance Triumph) reeled in Ulsterman Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing by Prosper2 Ducati) to clinch the final podium place.

Dunlop was left disappointed after finishing third in the RST Superbike race on Sunday, but the 37-year-old had a smile back on his face after his latest TT triumph.

placeholder image — Michael Dunlop celebrates winning the opening Monster Energy Supersport race at the Isle of Man TT with his team on Tuesday. (Photo by Stephen Davison/Pacemaker Press)

“The team’s been working brilliant and the wee bike was lovely. It was a lot damper out there than I expected I must say,” said Dunlop.

“The first lap was definitely steady and it’s good to be winning again instead of not winning.

“Conditions were just damp in weird places so I knew the speeds would be down without a doubt, and you had to just watch where you were going.

“I knew Dean was going to come out of the traps, and I knew the Honda would work in the conditions.

“I just got a lap and then decided, ‘right it’s time to go up, up, up. I just kept upping the pace to see where I had to go and when I started to pull [away], I said, ‘right, stay here’.”

Dunlop praised his team after a slick pit-stop following the first lap. He trailed Harrison by two seconds at Ballaugh, but the Ballymoney man was ahead by a tenth of a second at the Grandstand.

“The boys done a fantastic pit-stop but I knew Dean was going to be competitive, so I just said, ‘right, up the pace Michael’ because when the bike’s good and I’m feeling good, I know what I can do,” he added.

“So I just kept slowly but surely upping the pace.”