MICHAEL DUNLOP: Race-win record could be unassailable?

Michael Dunlop’s race-win record could be unassailable, says presenter Hailey Coxon on podcast’s special Isle of Man TT episode

Presenter Hailey Coxon believes Michael Dunlop’s record haul of Isle of Man TT race wins may never be broken.

Four victories at this year’s event saw him surpass his uncle Joey’s total of 26 – a number that hadn’t been overtaken since 2000.

And Coxon is sure 35-year-old Michael’s time at the top of the leaderboard on 29 can last even longer than a quarter of a century, especially if he chalks up more triumphs.

“Joey’s record stood for so long, the last race he raced in here was 2000,” she told the Full Chat podcast, powered by Bikesure, the UK’s largest motorcycle Insurance broker.

“Even what Michael’s got now, that can s,tand but the 30 is even more of a phenomenal, leap and I can’t see many achieving that any time soon. Even John McGuiness, where he’s at with it with 23 wins, he’s probably not got any wins left in him now. Podiums, for sure, but winning I don’t think so. He’s not going to surpass that in any way.

“The imprint the Dunlop family has left on motorsport is difficult to compute too. Just wow.”

Coxon, a proud Manx, was on the show to wrap up this year’s TT and spent almost 40 minutes chatting about the iconic event. She touched on a wide range of topics, including Davey Todd’s first senior race win.

“Davey deserved that, it was an emotional win,” the motorsport journalist added during the episode, the final one of the podcast’s first series.

“He was so committed. The last couple of TTs haven’t quite worked out for him. A couple of years ago he had that tyre issue, they started to degrade and that’s going to affect your mindset but still managed to finish on the podium.

“Last year he got that mad virus and he got so sick and it just wasn’t physically capable for him to do it. This year he was ready and I could see him being on that top step, and others could do as well. I’m really happy for him and I truly believe there’s so much more to come from him. It’s very likely that someone like Davey Todd, all being well, will be able to challenge Michael Dunlop eventually.”

What’s your thoughts on this?