Michael Dunlop Equals Uncle Joey’s Record at Isle of Man TT Races
On Saturday afternoon, Michael Dunlop made history at the Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 1, equaling his uncle Joey Dunlop’s record of 26 wins in motorcycle racing. Coming from behind, Dunlop took the lead on the run to Ballaugh on lap two and eventually secured his 12th Supersport win – and 40th TT podium – by an impressive 8.5 seconds over Davey Todd (Powertoolmate Ducati), with early race leader Dean Harrison (Honda Racing) taking third.
Early Race Developments
As the race got underway at 2:45 pm, Dean Harrison led through Glen Helen, with a slender advantage of 0.08 seconds over Todd. Dunlop was three-quarters of a second behind the race leader. James Hillier (Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing), James Hind (North Lincs Components Suzuki), and Michael Evans (Smith Racing Triumph) rounded out the early top six, separated by less than three seconds. Peter Hickman held eighth place on the Trooper Triumph by PHR Performance.
Shift in Lead
By Ballaugh, Todd had taken over the lead from Harrison, albeit by just 0.257 seconds, with Dunlop still in third, now 1.2 seconds behind Harrison. Hillier held fourth, while Jamie Coward (KTS Racing/Stanley Stewart Racing Triumph) moved up two places to fifth, pushing Hind and Evans down a place. At Ramsey, Harrison was back in the lead by 0.639 seconds, with Dunlop a similar distance behind in third, and the top three separated by 1.4 seconds. Coward moved up another place to fourth, with Hillier and Hind in fifth and sixth.
Lap One Positions
Harrison’s opening lap of 128.037mph gave him a lead over Todd (127.798mph) of almost two seconds, with Dunlop, still in third, more than three seconds off the race lead. Coward (126.800mph), Hillier (126.325mph), and Hind (126.021mph) completed the top six, ahead of Hickman, Evans, Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing Honda), and Josh Brookes (Boyce Precision Engineering by Russell Racing Yamaha).
Dunlop Takes the Lead
Through Glen Helen on lap two, Harrison led on the road but lost time after dicing with Coward, giving Dunlop the opportunity to move into second place, only 1.2 seconds behind the Honda rider. Todd dropped a place to third but was only 0.367 seconds adrift of Dunlop. However, it was all change at Ballaugh as Dunlop took the lead from Harrison by half a second, with Todd a further half second behind. By Ramsey, Dunlop’s charge was clear to see as he extended his lead to two seconds, with Todd having overhauled Harrison for second.
Final Laps
Coward and Harrison continued to do battle on the road, while Dunlop pulled away, setting a second lap of 128.833mph to give him a 4.5-second lead over Todd (128.133mph) as they all came into the pits to refuel. The top six was now completed by Harrison (127.920mph), Coward (127.476mph), Hillier (126.983mph), and Hind (126.806mph), but Coward soon hit trouble and pulled back up the return road to retire. Hickman had dropped to 11th, while Conor Cummins was another high-profile retirement.
Victory and Record
That was of little concern to Dunlop, and his lead moved out again at Glen Helen on the third lap, his gap over Todd now 5.5 seconds. Harrison was a further 3.2 seconds adrift, with fourth to sixth now occupied by Hillier, Hind, and Jordan. Todd took a second out of Dunlop’s lead from Glen Helen to Ballaugh and another four-tenths to Ramsey, which meant the gap stood at 4.1 seconds as they made the Mountain climb for the penultimate time. It was down to 3.9 seconds at the Bungalow, but starting the fourth and final lap, Dunlop had responded and stretched his advantage to five seconds.
He wasn’t to be outdone either, continually extending his lead throughout the final 37.73 miles to take an extremely popular victory by 8.5 seconds. Todd took his best TT result in second, setting the quickest ever lap by a Ducati around the Mountain Course at 128.785mph. Harrison claimed a 27th TT podium in third, with Hillier taking a comfortable fourth place from an excellent Hind, fifth being his best TT result, while Brookes overhauled Jordan on the final run down the Mountain for sixth.
Top Ten Finishers
The top ten was completed by Mike Browne on the second BPE/Russell Racing Yamaha, Hickman, and Evans. It was also a good day for Evans’ fellow Manxmen Joe Yeardsley (16th), Ryan Cringle (17th), and Jamie Cringle (29th), the latter setting his first, official 120mph+ lap.
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