Michael Dunlop: “We paid an extreme price; I want to keep pushing to next level”

Michael Dunlop says he will keep ‘plugging away’ in his pursuit for more silverware on the roads so long as he is still quick enough to challenge for victories at the highest levels.

The Ulsterman formally made history at the 2024 Isle of Man TT after his four victories over the fortnight brought his career tally at the event to 29, which in turn surpassed uncle Joey Dunlop’s erstwhile record for achieving 26 wins on the island.

While it’s a number manipulated somewhat by an increase in the number of races held at the TT, far from his achievement encouraging him to consider his future in the sport, he says it is a record he fully intends to extend.

“This job can sometimes finish you, or you finish it. I don't know,” the Ballymoney rider told the Belfast Live following a ceremony during which he new record-breaking achievements were toasted during a reception at Parliament Buildings in Stormont.

"We will just keep going. I feel good and faster than I ever was. I am winning races. It is hard to know where I am going to go, but some day it might click and I might walk away. Until then I will keep plugging away.

"I want to keep winning races, that is my main thing. I don't want to not win races. I don't want to reach a point where I am not competitive or winning.

"People do racing for a lot of other things. My main goal is to win races. That's my goal."

The Dunlop legacy

Queries over Dunlop’s future in road racing are often underpinned by the spectre that comes associated with a family name that, amid immense success over the past three decades, is also tainted by tragedy.

Indeed, Joey Dunlop died only weeks after achieving his 26th and final win at the TT in 2000 following a fatal accident during an event in Estonia. Michael’s father Robert Dunlop then passed away in an accident at the North West 200 in 2008 before his brother William Dunlop died in an accident at the Skerries 100 in 2018.

Despite this, Michael takes great pride in both carrying and succeeding with the Dunlop name and insists the ‘extreme price’ doesn’t deter him from competing.

"Obviously the name is a big thing for me.

"People ask why you want to win races. I want to win races because of my name. We have obviously paid an extreme price in the sport but I just want to keep pushing it to the next level.

"I have been racing since no age and I am just used to it. You have to know when to stay in your lane and my lane is motorbikes. It is all I know.

"Road racing has been good to me and bad to me. That's life. We all have to batter on and push on."

Even if he doesn’t extend his run of 29 wins at the TT, Dunlop is well placed to maintain his place at the top of the all-time winners’ list with John McGuinness - on 23 wins - his closest rival still actively competing.