Dunlop takes Superstock TT victory

Michael Dunlop overcame the disappointment of retiring from this morning’s Supersport TT by winning Monday evening’s delayed four-lap Superstock TT.
It was Dunlop’s second TT victory, having won the Supersport race in 2009 and it marked the ninth TT win for Kawasaki.

Dunlop had to withdraw from today’s earlier Supersport race with his Yamaha leaking oil from a engine case gasket but his ZX-10R – with an engine prepared by BSB team MSS Kawasaki – ran faultlessly as he overhauled lap one leader Guy Martin with a devastating second lap, some 13 seconds quicker than his nearest rival.

His eventual winning margin was 18.63s over John McGuinness on a Padgetts Honda while Martin finished third, the Relentless by TAS Suzuki rider’s second podium finish of the day and 11th TT podium of his career – but still without the race win he is so desperate for.

Dunlop (23) however said: “That was hard work but the bike never missed a beat. After this morning’s Supersport race, I was beginning to think I’d not get another one again (a TT victory) but my team did a mega job for me and this is the only way I can repay them. I can’t thank them enough – or all the fans out there who were going bananas, cheering me on.”

Keith Amor battled through the pain of his shoulder injury to finish fourth on his KBMG Honda while Michael’s brother William had a great ride to fifth place on the Wilson Craig Honda. He had even worse luck than Michael in the earlier Supersport race when his bike developed a death rattle as it was started up – a brand new engine installed after an expensive blow up with the original engine in practice on Saturday.

Team-mate Cameron Donald completed the top six, but one of the rides of the day came from TT rookie Simon Andrews who finished 11th on the Ice Valley BMW. He clocked 123.528mph, moving ever closer to his target 125mph and still has Friday’s Senor race to look forward to on the stocker. 

Notable retirements among the front-runners included: Dan Stewart and Bruce Anstey who both stopped at the pits at the end of the first lap and Gary Johnson who ran out of fuel while in fourth place at the Creg on the fourth lap.