Michael Dunlop outlines his North West 200 hopes after Thursday's double success
Michael Dunlop is determined to keep his head down and keep going as he looks to make it a North West 200 to remember.
The local hero sent the fans home happy on Thursday night winning two of the three races, his first-ever double on his home track.
It was Dunlop's first victories on the Triangle road circuit since 2016 and he is hoping to add to them despite still feeling the effects of a spill in qualifying with another six races in the offing on Saturday.
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"It's nice to win back in Northern Ireland again, especially at international level," said the Ballymoney man.
"We were struggling a bit at the start of the week but the boys did a fantastic job, and we got the job done.
"I was sore the first couple of laps and I was saying to myself 'do I need to be here' but I said to myself to keep going.
"It was about getting into the right place at the right time because I've been mugged here before, I needed to get my finger out.
"The slipstream is beautiful around here and I stuck a couple of sectors in to get a push on.
"When you're up against the short circuit guys who are fast as anything, sometimes it's hard, but I always knew I could ride well here...I've always had it in me.
"The local fans are fantastic. I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I can keep my head down and keep going."
After coming out on top in the Supersport and Superstock classes Dunlop would love to take the honours in one of the Superbike races.
He finished fourth as Davey Todd took top spot on the podium in Thursday night's offering. Dunlop revealed they had a slight issue with the BMW but they are hoping to get it sorted in time for today's racing.
"We've an issue with the Superbike off the turn but hopefully we can get speaking to someone at BMW to get it rectified," he added.
It looks like being a real battle across the classes on Saturday with it being too close to call as to who will come out on top.
Todd will be hoping he can top the podium once again after picking up his first Superbike win with the newly formed 8Ten Racing team with teammate Peter Hickman coming in third.
'A Superbike win is the one that's been eluding me for quite a while so to finally get it done is really special, especially with Pete on the podium as well," said Todd
'The team's been set up in the space of about eight weeks so a massive shout out to all the boys and the sponsors for making it happen and they've pulled it out of the bag. A first and third is a good way to start."
Roads are set to close around the circuit at 9am on Saturday with the first race due to get underway at 10am.
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