Michael Dunlop will set sail for the Isle of Man TT in little under a fortnight’s time with an even bigger target painted on his back following a superb hat-trick at his home international.
The Ballymoney man was in red-hot form at the Briggs Equipment North West 200, adding a Saturday win to the brace of race victories he chalked up two days prior on the opening night of competition.
Dunlop’s most recent visit to the top step of the podium before last week’s Coleraine and District Motor Club Ltd event was 2016, with that coming in the blue riband Superbike class.
He now has eight to his name, and while he remains some way shy of surpassing his late uncle Joey (13 victories) and father Robert (15 victories), time is still very much on his side.
A spill during Thursday’s Superstock qualifying session at the Magherabuoy Chicane on the run down into Portrush that left him battered and bruised fuelled fears that 2025 was not going to be the season his barren spell at the NW200 would end – but a bullish mindset and gritted teeth ensured that would not be the case.
To the delight of his legion of fans, the 36-year-old ended his nine-year wait to spray the winners’ champagne on the north coast in spectacular fashion, triumphing in the 600cc Supersport Class from Englishman Richard Cooper.
He achieved it by 0.378 seconds on the wonderful sounding Ducati Panigale V2 – and punched in a new lap record around the 8.9-mile closed-road circuit of 118.65mph during a busy final lap on the Italian machine.
A seventh success quickly followed in the first Superstock race, on the same BMW M1000 RR that violently high-sided Dunlop earlier, and left him rolling down the Coleraine Road.
He took the chequered flag from Honda Racing’s Dean Harrison, while Ian Hutchinson – a rider who has, remarkably, overcome the odds to battle back from serious injury to go racing again – took an emotional third-place aboard his Michael Laverty Racing-run BMW.
Saturday started in the same vein for Dunlop – although the final result of the six-lap ‘big bike’ contest was clouded in uncertainty for a time as some felt he had been guilty of not putting a foot down in the stop box after an overshoot at the Mather’s Cross chicane.
However, organisers deemed no rule breach and the result stood, to the dismay of 8TEN Racing BMW duo Davey Todd and Peter Hickman, who finished second and third.
Hickman vowed it “will probably be my last ever North West unfortunately”, insisting, “we are not going to be here and be treated the way we’re being treated”.
Dunlop, for his part, felt the ruling had vindicated his actions to prevent a potential crash.
“We were pushed into the chicane,” said Dunlop, who reeled in Hickman on the final lap after losing time by running wide at Metropole.
“Peter jumped over the grass which was dangerous and we went over the curb.
“I came back to win. The rules say if you cut the chicane you have to put your foot down.
“For safety reasons I could not do that – it was too dangerous, end of story.
“I didn’t gain an advantage, got past everybody and won the race.
“I did not gain an advantage – people got past me and then I made another mistake. I think that I deserved the race win – I lost a load of time and I came back again,” he continued.
A fourth victory looked to be on the cards in the day-ending, second six-lap Superbike contest.
However, just moments after Dunlop had moved ahead of Todd and Harrison, he parked up at Mather’s Cross Chicane with a suspected technical problem, his reaction telling its own story.
Todd went on to take top spot – his second Superbike success of the week and third overall win having led the field home in Saturday’s Superstock sprint – after the main feature race was curtailed by an incident that brought out the red flags.
Cooper enjoyed a double around the famous Triangle course, the 42-year-old opening his account in Saturday’s curtain-raising Supertwin contest by edging out Tobermore’s Adam McLean on the final lap as he took his tally of first-places in the class at the NW200 to five.
Hours later, the three-time British champion from Nottingham made it a seventh win on the north coast by coming out on top in a thrilling Supersport battle.
Over a shortened distance of four laps, he secured the spoils from Harrison in second and Dunlop in third.
Dunlop was not the only rider from the North to soak up the applause or local fans from the top of the rostrum, however, as Magherafelt’s Paul Jordan broke his NW200 duck by capitalising on offs for Cooper and McLean at Juniper Chicane on the penultimate lap, leaving him clear to nurse his Jackson Racing Aprilla home and spark wild celebrations.
“A Northern Irishman winning – what more can you ask for?” he said afterwards.
North West 200 Saturday race results
Maxwell Freight Services Supertwin (4 laps)
1 R Cooper (Kawasaki) 19m 25.817s
2 A McLean (Yamaha) +0.280s
3 J McWilliams (Aprilia) +8.336s
4 M Sweeney (Aprilia) +27.741s
5 B Furber (Yamaha) +28.188s
Briggs Equipment Superbike (6 laps)
1 M Dunlop (BMW) 26m 05.717s
2 D Todd (BMW) +1.984s
3 P Hickman (BMW) +7.005s
4 A Seeley (BMW) +21.880s
5 D Harrison (Honda) +15.486s
Tides Restaurant Supersport (6 laps)
1 R Cooper (Yamaha) 18m 14.500s
2 D Harrison (Honda) +0.140s
3 M Dunlop (Ducati) +0.294s
4 D Todd (Honda) +11.062s
5 P Hickman (Triumph) +11.289s
CP Hire Superstock (6 laps)
1 D Todd (BMW) 26m 07.005s
2 D Harrison (Honda) +0.586s
3 P Hickman (BMW) +0.823s
4 A Seeley (BMW) +6.792s
5 I Hutchinson (BMW) +19.031s
J M Paterson Supertwin (4 laps)
1 P Jordan (Aprilia) 19m 33.581s
2 M Sweeney (Aprilia) +9.818s
3 B Furber (Yamaha) +15.547s
4 AJ Venter (Kawasaki) +15.673s
5 D Tweed (Aprilia) +37.687s
Merrow Hotel & Spa NW200 Superbike (5 laps)
1 D Todd (BMW) 21m 37.035s
2 D Harrison (Honda) +0.398s
3 A Seeley (BMW) +3.495s
4 I Hutchinson (BMW) +18.355s
5 J Brookes (Honda) +26.181s
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