Dunlop at the Double

Michael Dunlop has made it two from two as he drew level on John McGuinness with 23 overall wins at the TT.

The Northern Irishman led from Glen Helen on the first lap and managed the race well to land his 23rd overall TT win.

By the time Dunlop reached Ballaugh Bridge on lap one, he had opened up a 3.135 second lead on Dean Harrison as MD stamped his authority on the race and built up a 4.542 second lead at Ramsey Hairpin.

Dunlop’s astounding first lap continued as he stretched his lead by a further second by the time he reached Bungalow and went on to set a new Superbike lap record of 134.519mph to move 6.280 seconds clear.

As the race went into its second lap, both Dunlop and Harrison were both inside the lap record at Ballaugh, he finished the lap with a new Superbike lap record (135.046mph), but he was three seconds outside of Peter Hickman’s outright record.

After the pitstop at the end of lap two, Dunlop kicked on again and was 16 seconds ahead by Hairpin and never looked in danger of losing his place at the top of the tree.

As MD managed his lead over the next few laps, with it dropping down below 20 seconds, Harrison and Hickman again proved to be the best of the rest and, much like in the Saturday’s Supersport, Hickman launched an assault on Harrison’s lead over him as the battle for second heated up.

On the final lap, Hickman knocked Harrison down into second and was well inside the lap record pace going through Hairpin, come the chequered flag he did finish second and set a new Superbike record of 135.445mph (16:42.824) surpassing Dunlop’s Superbike lap record that he’d set earlier in the race.

MD was congratulated in the winners enclosure by McGuinness after the race and looked visibly moved by the occasion.

Top 6 Result:

Dunlop
Hickman
Harrison
Hillier
Coward
McGuinness