TT 2017: ‘Wrong rear tyre’ doesn’t stop charging Dunlop

Full report below from BSN

Michael Dunlop got his week back on track at TT 2017 Iwith victory in Monday’s Supersport 600cc race, his 14th in total to join Mike Hailwood as the joint fourth most successful solo rider ever.

The 28-year old was back in fourth in the early stages of the first lap after admitting he probably chose the wrong tye but soon got into his stride and was only 0.397s behind James Hillier at the end of the first lap.

However, a lap in excess of 126mph on lap two put him in the lead and although it remained close, he extended his lead on laps three and four to eventually take the win by over 13s.

“I made a bit of a slow start and maybe used the wrong rear tyre so when I saw P4, I decided it was time to up the ante,” said Dunlop, speaking after the race.

“I realised it was James who was leading at the pit stop and fair play to him he was setting a good pace so I had a real good go on lap three which gave me the gap I needed. I rolled it off on the last lap and saved what we had to bring it home.

“The chassis was moving around a bit to begin with and the bike was a bit nervous, which isn’t usually like a 600 but once I had that cushion, I was extra careful with the gear changes and it’s great to be back on the top step. I’ve been off the boil on the 600s for a couple of years so it makes up for the disappointment of the Superbike race.

“We nearly made the impossible possible yesterday and we honestly don’t know yet what the problem was. The bike was great straight out the blocks but it just stopped on the second lap. Stuart (Hicken) is looking at the engine and I was down in the mouth yesterday so it’s good to get the week back on track.”

Image source: Impact Images