I'm hungry to put on a show at the North West 200, declares Michael Dunlop

Belfast Telegraph

27-04-2025

Dunlop was a late entry for the first Irish road race of the year in Co Tyrone where he arrived with his new BMW and Ducati machines.
The 36-year-old won the showpiece Cookstown 100 Superbike race and secured a Supersport victory.
Dunlop smashed his 12-year-old lap record on the BMW for a new outright benchmark around the 2.1-mile course of 91.773mph.
He has been busy clocking up the miles throughout April, competing in the Le Mans 24-Hours race in France with Team LRP Poland on a BMW before taking part in the final two-day British Superbike test on Wednesday and Thursday at Oulton Park prior to travelling to Cookstown.
The 29-time TT winner is set to ride a Ducati Panigale V2 in the Supersport class at the North West (May 7-10) and is entered on the Italian machine at the TT where practice is scheduled to commence on May 26.
Dunlop also appears poised to ride the BMW after relying on a Honda Fireblade in recent years, winning the Superbike race at the TT in 2023 and recording his fastest-ever lap around the Mountain Course in the summer of 2024 at 135.97mph on the Hawk Racing-prepared machine.
The Ballymoney man's last victory at the North West was in 2016 when he won a Superbike race on a BMW.
Dunlop is eager to 'have a good go' at the north coast road race but, as ever, the TT remains his primary objective.
He made history on the Isle of Man in 2024, surpassing his uncle Joey's record of 26 wins to increase his tally to 29.
'It (Joey's record) took a lot of weight off my shoulders,' Dunlop said.
'All my pressure all through my career has always been self-inflicted, and that's been because I'm always pushing myself to that point of 'I want to be that person', not because somebody else – a sponsor or somebody in the public – has said 'he can't do this or that'. It's always been self-inflicted pressure.
'The TT was the main objective last year, but I was a bit disappointed with the North West and an injury hindered me.
'Hopefully at the North West, we can put a show on before the TT.'
Saturday's Cookstown meeting was punctuated by a raft of red flags, which led to a reshuffle of the 17-race programme.
None of the competitors who crashed were reported to have suffered life-threatening injuries.
Derek McGee from Mullingar, who was back at the event for the first time in six years, won the Moto3 and Supertwin races, while Ballymoney's Darryl Tweed was a double winner in the Lightweight Supersport and Classic Superbike events.