TT 2018: William Dunlop withdraws ‘for personal reasons’

William Dunlop has withdrawn from the remainder of this year’s Isle of Man TT ‘for personal reasons’.

It’s not necessarily a surprise considering the Ballymoney-based road racer withdrew from racing at the North West 200 a few weeks ago, following a crash during the Superstock race in which he injured his back.

In an official statement, Dunlop said: “This is a very difficult decision and not one I have taken lightly, I can only apologise to the team and all of our sponsors but I believe that continuing would be the wrong decision and would not give a true account of either myself or the team. I would like to thank Tim especially for how understanding and supportive he has been over the past few weeks, I obviously feel like I have let him and the team down but they have stood by me throughout. I am going to head home and take some time to recuperate before making a decision on when I will be back on the Temple Yamahas.”

Tim Martin, Temple Yamaha Team Boss, said: “Obviously this is extremely disappointing for us as a team and for me personally as I have been looking forward to working with William at the TT for some time. There is no race in the world however where having 100% focus and commitment is more important so it is the correct decision in the end for William. Hopefully after a few weeks off he will come back stronger, we all know what a natural talent he is so having a fit and well William back to fight for wins at the Ulster Grand Prix is now our focus.”