Roads 2020: Michael Dunlop to ride VisionTrack Ducati at this year's TT and the North West 200!

The 30 year old from Ballymoney in County Antrim has secured a deal with the reigning British Superbike champions to race on a factory-supported VisionTrack Ducati V4 R in both the Superbike and Senior races at this year’s Isle of Man TT event. 
 
Dunlop didn’t enjoy the best of TTs in 2019, but despite finishing in the top six in the Superbike, Senior, Superstock and both Supersport events, he did win the Lightweight TT to add to his tally as the third most successful rider around the 37.73-mile course. 
 
He will race his own machines in the Supersport and Superstock events but seven times BSB champions PBM will field the Ulsterman in the two main races as they look to add to their illustrious TT history.

The last time the Penrith-based team contested the Isle of Man TT Races was in 2015 when Ian Hutchinson scored a second in the Superbike TT and a third in the Senior TT as well as winning the Superstock TT race, all aboard PBM Kawasakis, to celebrate the team’s first major foray onto the Isle of Man for 12 years.

That success came after PBM previously contested the event with Ducati in 2003 when John McGuinness took second in the TT Formula 1 race and third in the Senior TT riding the MonsterMob-sponsored bikes.
 
Prior to that, Joey Dunlop – Michael’s uncle – famously won his last big bike TT for Paul Bird when he took victory in the 2000 TT Formula 1 race onboard a Demon Vimto Honda SP1, just a month before he was tragically killed in a race in Estonia.
 
PBM and Michael have worked together before when they prepared a Kawasaki ZX-10R for him to win the 2011 Superstock TT. Ducati’s current quickest lap at the TT is 128.717mph by Michael Rutter in 2011.

Michael, who rode the machine for the first time at the weekend’s official BSB test in Jerez (above), will also race the PBM – prepared VisionTrack Ducati at the 2020 International North West 200 in Northern Ireland during the week commencing Monday 11th May.