Michael Dunlop

Dunlop opened his account at the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races in the Superbike race, which he led from start to finish. Astride a BMW S1000RR, Dunlop bettered the existing absolute course speed record attained during one-lap, also setting a new average speed for the six lap race of 130.306mph in a race-record time of 1 hour, 44 minutes, 14.259 seconds for the 226 miles of racing.[11] In addition Dunlop also won the prestigious John Williams Trophy.

Dunlop's second race of the week was the Supersport Junior 600 TT, race 1. The opening lap saw him dicing at the head of the field with Ian Hutchinson. By the end of the four-lap race, Dunlop finished in second place behind Hutchinson. Following routine post-race inspection of the machines, Dunlop's bike was deemed to have infringed race regulations with non-standard parts,[12] and he was subsequently disqualified. Dunlop returned to the start line for the second race of 6 June, the Superstock TT on a 1000 cc BMW. However, handling difficulties contributed to him retiring from the race at the end of the opening lap.

In the second of the two Supersport Junior races, Dunlop finished second to Hutchinson. For the last race of Dunlop's schedule on Friday 10 June, he led the six-lap Senior TT from lap one, extending his lead over runner-up Ian Hutchinson, winning with a 31-second margin, raising his own absolute lap record speed previously set on Saturday, 4 June by a small amount, and setting a new race record time.[13]

The qualifying week for the 2017 Isle of Man TT was plagued by poor weather. Following a sporadic week of qualifying the first race day was given over to additional qualifying and practice, which meant the curtain raiser to the meeting, the Superbike TT, was postponed for 24 hours.

Racing got underway on Sunday, 4 June. Dunlop formed up on the grid at the TT Grandstand on board the Bennett's Suzuki in what were ideal conditions. Setting the early pace, Dunlop crossed the line at the head of the field at the end of lap 1, posting a time of 17 minutes 15.79 seconds from a standing start, clocking and average speed of 131.135 mph (211.041 km/h).[18] Going into the second lap with a slender 1.8 second lead over Dean Harrison, Dunlop continued to head the field until he was forced to retire at Handley's Corner.[19]

In the opening Supersport race, Dunlop took his place on the grid astride his familiar MD Racing Yamaha. Dicing for the lead with James Hillier at the end of the opening lap, Dunlop came into the pit stop at the end of lap 2 with a 2.75 second lead. Taking another second from Hillier at the end of lap 3, Dunlop continued to edge ahead on the final lap, coming home with a winning margin of 12.5 seconds.[20]

After some pre-season testing with the Tyco BMW squad,[21] Dunlop made his way to the curtain raiser to the Irish Road Racing season, the Cookstown 100.[22] Qualifying third fastest in the Superbike category[23] Dunlop opened his 2018 campaign by taking victory aboard his MD Racing Honda in the Supersport Invitation race.[24]

Dunlop's first competitive outing on the S-1000RR saw him competing in the Open A race. Starting in the lead group he crossed the line at the head of the field only to be awarded second place behind Derek Shiels, losing by 5 seconds on corrected time.[22]

A series of crashes plagued the event, resulting in the cancellation of the remainder of the race programme including the highlight of the meeting, the Cookstown 100 Superbike race.[24][25]

Dunlop won the opening race of the 2018 Isle of Man TT with a race time of 01:44:13.398 and an average lap speed of 130.324 mph (209.736 km/h).

Dunlop followed up his Superbike TT win with a win in the Supersport category.