Isle of Man TT 2024 rider guide | Michael Dunlop

There’s a burning question on everyone’s lips heading into TT 2024: can Michael Dunlop overtake his uncle Joey’s win tally to become the greatest ever TT racer? His four wins at last year’s TT took his tally to 25, one short of ‘Yer Maun’ Joey’s history‑making 26.

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But while everyone in road racing appears consumed by the prospect of Michael matching and then surpassing his uncle, the man at the centre of it all appears completely indifferent about making history…

“It’s not something I’ve really thought about,” he said. “It’s something I’ll end up taking to a book at some point. We’ll just keep going the way we’re going, plodding along slowly but surely.”

Michael Dunlop’s TT stats heading into 2024

• Starts: 80
• Wins: 25
• Podiums: 39
• Fastest lap ever: 135.259mph (2023 Senior)
• 2023 fastest lap: 135.259mph (Senior)

His intent to plod on slowly, surely can’t be further from the truth. Dunlop is a fierce competitor who rose to new heights during last year’s event. Having seemingly lost touch with Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison on the big bikes (Superstock, Superbike and Senior), the 35-year-old showed he was far from a spent force by storming to the fastest lap in practice.

His 135.531mph unofficially broke the lap record and put the paddock on high alert given his previous best was 133.962mph set eight years ago in the 2016 Senior. He backed it up by winning the Superbike TT, his first big bike win for five years, kicking off what was a truly stellar week.

Preparation for this year’s event has had its highs and lows. An outing at the Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance World Championship gave him plenty of track time, but a crash at Cookstown left him nursing a wrist injury after a nasty highside.

Machinery-wise, he’s sticking to what he knows works best by continuing his relationship with the highly regarded Hawk Racing for another season. He’ll have a 2024‑spec Fireblade at his disposal, which he rode for the first time at the North West 200 where he bagged five podium finishes.

The big change comes in his choice of machinery for the Supersport races. Having made history with the first ever 130mph lap on a 600 last year onboard his self‑prepared MD Racing Yamaha R6, he’s switched to the Triumph 765 triple for 2024.

While Dunlop benefits from working with Hawk Racing – which builds and run his Superbike – the rest of his racing operation is very much kept in-house. That means his Supertwin, Supersport and Superstock machines are all prepared and run by him and his team.