When Joey Dunlop took his 26th TT win and set a long-standing record, even then, I knew he wasn’t supposed to win any more TT races, not at 48. But there was something magical about that man when he suited up for his final TT.
In truth it has been another successful year for the Northern Irish man. 4 wins and 1 podium finish puts him now one win away from claiming his 30th TT victory and at the tender age of 35, there’s no signs of him stopping for another 5 to 10 years at least.
Little did we know when someone finally broke Joey’s record and that it’d be his nephew, Michael Dunlop. Michael took home his 27th TT victory when he won the Supertwin class on Wednesday, making him unquestionably the new king of the mountain course. It’s easy to say we saw this coming after he took the opening Supersport race or even after seeing his form last year.
But this is a moment not to let pass by with an “Ah yeah, I saw it coming” attitude. Let’s take a second to fully appreciate how great this achievement is.
Racing motorcycles around a 37.73-mile public roads circuit with all its inherent dangers at speeds of up to 200mph may seem like an anachronism in today’s safety conscious society but for those who conquer ‘the Mountain’ it makes the level of adulation and respect they receive all the more.
The pain of losing three family members as a result of racing accidents – dad Robert, uncle Joey and brother William – in a sport that has elevated the Dunlop family name to the status of road racing royalty, make Michael’s success in surpassing Joey’s record number of wins at this year’s TT all the more poignant.
The iconic Manx meeting is steeped in history and heritage – and no name is more synonymous with the event than the Dunlop dynasty – a combined total of 60 wins (Michael 29, Joey 26 and Robert 5) over the course of almost 50 years bears testimony to that.
