Dunlop battles the clock to qualify on BMW

 As the accusations and counter accusations start to fly after Michael Dunlop’s defection from Yamaha to BMW, the Ballymoney racer is getting on with the task of trying to win a TT in 2015.

Dunlop’s ‘Operation TT 2015- Part 2″ is already in full gear with the new BMW S1000RR superbike that the 11 times TT winner will ride in practice tonight already on its way to the Isle of Man in Buildbase’s Steve Hicken’s van. The Buildbase crew had worked on the superbike until 1am at the workshops near Leicester before driving 140 miles to Heysham. With no space left on the 11am ferry, Hicken and his crew fettled the BMW on the quayside as they waited for the 2.15pm boat.

John Brown from Hunt’s Motorcycles in Manchester is also Island bound with a new CBR600RR Honda for the 26 year old to ride in both Supersport TTs. 

Meanwhile, Dunlop and his crew have decamped from the paddock to his digs near Port Soderick where they are currently working flat out on the superstock version of the BMW. It is understood that this bike is the same machine that Dunlop won the Superstock TT with last June. 

With practice due to begin at 18.20pm this evening and the ferry carrying his superbike not scheduled to dock until 17.46pm, timing will be tight if the Ballymoney man is going to qualify on the BMW today. To complicate matters, it is understood that some software still has to be uploaded into the bike’s Motec system as the bike is currently running a BSB rather than TT programme.

With no rider now competing on their new R1 Yamaha, the Milwaukee team are preparing to leave the Island as soon as they can.

Team boss Shaun Muir slammed Dunlop’s decision to leave his squad.

“We’re very disappointed. Disappointed at the way it’s been carried out, disappointed for all our sponsors, disappointed for the team, and disappointed for Yamaha.” he said.

” We still believe that we haven’t given the new bike a full go at the TT.We sensed leading up to the TT that Michael was having concerns in his own mind. We were confident that we could build a bike to win, and we believe we have a bike that can win. But can anyone justify three laps around the TT as enough time to prove a bike? We’re up against Hondas that have probably done a thousand laps and BMWs that have probably done 250. In our eyes, three laps were a bit premature.”

Yamaha will retain a presence at TT 2015 with the MarTrain squad and Dean Harrison. 

“You can’t come to the TT with a bike that you got three months ago and expect it to be competitive.” MarTrain owner, Tim Martin, said of Dunlop’s controversial move.

“We are taking a road bike and making it a full on race bike in an extreme environment, running at over 200mph. You cant do it in a couple of months, it is a long term project.”