Michael Dunlop will return to riding a 1000cc Honda at the Isle of Man TT 10 years after last riding a CBR 1000 RR-R Fireblade on the Mountain Course. The Northern Irishman has announced today his commitment to Hawk Racing to contest the two most important races of the 2023 TT, the Superbike Race and the Senior TT, relying on the same structure that rescued him last year just a month before the start of the TT, when Dunlop was left without a motorcycle.
The 21-time winner of the Isle of Man TT signed an agreement with PBM Ducati in March 2020 with the firm intention of racing the TT on the back of a Panigale V4 R. That edition was canceled due to the COVID19 pandemic, just like 2021, and when Michael was preparing to race the 2022 TT on Paul Bird’s bike, Both parties argued a month before the race and the 33-year-old was left composed and without a team.
En ese momento, Steve Hicken, team manager del Hawk Racing, came to the rescue of Michael Dunlop and set him up on a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 R practically against the clock; With no time to train with her, Dunlop did what he could with her and ended up achieving a best result of third in the Superbike Race.
The trust that Hawk Racing placed in Michael at that time has allowed both parties to meet again in 2023, with plenty of time to prepare for the TT. The team will be the same, but not the bike, which will now be a Honda CBR 1000 RR-R after Hawk Racing opted for this same machine for its project in the British Superbikes after a long relationship with Suzuki, a brand that this year has abandoned almost all competitions in the world of two wheels.
The Dunlop-Hawk Racing alliance is synonymous with success; after winning his first TT Superbike race in 2013 with Honda -teaming up with John McGuinness-, Michael Dunlop signed for Hawk Racing in 2014 and together they achieved a double in the Superbike and Senior TT appointmentsgiving BMW its maiden victory in the Isle of Man feature race for the first time in its 75-year history.
Anticipation for #TT2023 is building as 21-time TT winner @M_Dunlop3 joins @_HawkRacing once again and returns to the Honda Superbike for the first time in 10 years.
Will the move see them back on the top step to claim their sixth title together? https://t.co/0mUELcFFIZ pic.twitter.com/LJtAPrnYaj
— Isle of Man TT Races (@ttracesofficial) March 2, 2023
When Michael and the Milwaukee Yamaha parted ways in the middle of practice for the 2015 TT, Steve Hicken once again made room for the Northern Irish rider, who took P2 in the Superstock race. In 2016, he again dressed in the colors of Hawk Racing, Dunlop added another Senior-Superbike double at the controls of a BMW, also being the first TT rider to complete the course in less than 17 minutes. Their last season together was 2017, already with Suzuki machinery, and scoring another victory in the Senior TT.
“It’s good to order my plans with enough time this year”, Michael said after making his move to Hawk Racing official. “You only have to look at the other riders to see how important it is to work with a team that you are familiar with and to catch up with long before you get to the TT. The pace is so high right now that you have to be at the pinnacle of your level from the beginning”.
Read also: KTM: “We still don’t know how much we will pay the riders and mechanics for the Sprint Race”
“Last year’s preparations were not what they should have been. Steve and the guys came in to pull me out of the pit at the last minute, but we still got a good result.. Before that [en 2019] I was still suffering a lot from a wrist injury, so this year will be the first time in a long time that I’m fully fit and on a bike I’m ready to ride. It’s great, I’m looking forward to it and I think we can put on a good show.” round off the living legend of the Isle of Man.
The TT 2023 is scheduled from May 29 to June 10, concentrating its week of races from the 3rd to the 10th of the same month.