“The other, bigger boys are contracted riders – they just turn up, ride and go again”Alex Whitworth
Michael Dunlop has provided rare insight into his unique success without factory support, while working a normal 9-5 job.
Dunlop smashed the all-time record for Isle of Man TT race wins this year, overtaking his legendary uncle Joey’s tally of 26. Dunlop ended this year’s TT extending the record to 29.
Dunlop’s achievement is even greater because he isn’t riding or racing full-time.
He operates his own MD Racing outfit — with additional input from Hawk Racing (which in the British Superbike Championship runs under the MasterMac Honda banner) on his Superbike-spec machines.
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Dunlop stands out among the majority of his road racing rivals, who mostly ride for established teams which prepare the bike for their rider.
When he’s not on a bike, he runs his own construction company.
“I’m probably the only rider, competitively anyway, that builds his own motorbikes, builds his own engines,” Dunlop told Goodwood.
“So for me, there’s a lot going on where most of the other, bigger boys are contracted riders.
“They all ride for a team or they’ve a generic team that looks after the bike, so they don’t do anything. They just turn up, ride and go again.
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“I’m 24/7 building engines, looking after bikes.
“I’ve got lads looking after them while I’m there, but you’re concentrating the whole time on what needs to be done.
“So you have a lot more going on than just normal day-to-day motorcycling part of it.”
Dunlop is remarkable for how normal he is, when he’s not smashing TT records.
“I work 9 to 5, I pay my own bills,” he explained.
“We don’t get anything given to us. I’m the only person that’s winning races without any factory help.
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“You don’t need factory help. It obviously helps, but it’s not the end of the world where, you know, people just think it’s handed to you.”
Dunlop was asked if he’d ever chased factory support, or whether he’d welcome future assistance from a major backer.
“I would like support with the parts and all that but it’s very money oriented,” he answered.
“Whoever has the most money talks, so if I can get some help, great. If I don’t, I’ll just keep paddling my own canoe.”
