11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Michael Dunlop has everything he needs to continue leading way, insists Phillip McCallen
Dunlop ended a nine-year wait for victory at the Triangle road race on Thursday, clinching a Supersport and Superstock double.
The Ballymoney man then added a Superbike success on Saturday to complete a terrific treble, giving him eight career wins at Ireland's premier motorcycle race.
It was Dunlop's first Superbike success around the 8.9-mile course since 2016 when he triumphed on a Hawk Racing BMW.
Now riding BMW machinery for the first time since the Armoy Race of Legends national meeting in 2021, Dunlop put himself back on the top step on Saturday, much to the delight of his thousands of sun-drenched fans.
It has been an impressive start to 2025 for Dunlop, who was a double winner at the Cookstown 100 in April in the Supersport and Superbike classes as he warmed up for the major road races.
Dunlop will now be looking ahead to the Isle of Man TT where he became the most successful rider in history at the legendary event in 2024, winning four times to set a new benchmark of 29 victories.
He has changed his stable of machinery for 2025, switching from Honda to BMW for the Superbike and Superstock classes and changing from a Yamaha R6 to a Ducati Panigale V2 Supersport machine.
Dunlop is set to continue riding an Italian Paton in the Supertwin races at the TT where he won both races in the summer of 2024 plus both Supersport events to break his legendary uncle Joey's record of 26 wins around the infamous Mountain Course.
With long-time backers Stuart and Steve Hicken of Hawk Racing continuing to support Dunlop in 2025 and his close-knit MD Racing team behind him – headed by loyal sponsor and right-hand man Gary Ryan – McCallen says the road racing superstar is in his strongest position for years with the TT only weeks away.
'It's the team and the backup,' said McCallen, who is an 11-time TT winner.
'For the last few years, it's looked like he's had his bikes at the last minute or he's come here still building bikes and doing different things and he's not really ready.
'This year, he's been racing, he's done an endurance race (at Le Mans), he's done other races this year, and I know these are new bikes but the teams are really, really good.
'He's got the same teams as he's had for years and he's totally confident with those people because there is a big worry of 'who is working on my bikes and what are they doing with it'.
'So, he's happy with his teams and he knows he's got good bikes.
'That Ducati, apparently there is no higher-spec Ducati in Europe than that; his BMW Superbike, allegedly – and it looks like it – there's no higher-spec than that in the country as well.
'His production bike is definitely good and the Hawk boys, the team that he is so, so happy with, they have built him TT and North West-winning bikes, although more so at the TT.
'He's happy with them, and in my mind, if I had that Ducati, I'd be happy; if I had those BMWs with that spec, I'd be happy as well.
'I think that's all showing now, and lots of other years he hasn't had the miles he's wanted.
'He has come here (North West 200) with maybe a few race miles done, but this year, he has come mentally prepared, he's definitely physically prepared and he's mechanically prepared, so why would you not be happy?'
Carrickfergus rider Alastair Seeley was unable to achieve a milestone 30th win at the North West on his return to the event after a year's absence, however Dunlop is on the cusp of reaching that remarkable landmark at the TT.
On current form, it appears to be a matter of when, not if.
