Dunlop dynasty has endured three sad road racing fatalities
ICHOSE a particularly poignant time to settle down and begin the task of reading ‘Road Racer - It’s In My Blood’, a first person account of the life and times of Northern Ireland motorcycling sensation Michael Dunlop, ghostwritten by Jeff Hudson.
While I gobbled up this page-turner last Wednesday, at the same time Michael was bidding a sad farewell to his big brother, William, the third member of this prominent sporting family to be killed in an accident on the roads.
Given what had happened, in Skerries, Co. Dublin, during an event on the previous weekend, I was drawn towards the book even though I knew that sad event had considerably dated its content.
Nonetheless, it was still an opportunity to get some sense of the incredible loss that must be felt by family members when a professional sportsperson goes out to do their job and doesn’t make it home.
Ballymoney in Co. Antrim is known as ‘Dunlop Country’, and motorcycle road racing is by far the most popular pastime in that part of Northern Ireland.
And while the family has put the area on the map, it has been achieved at an immense cost.
Michael’s uncle, Joey, was a legend with 26 Isle of Man TT wins to his credit, but he was involved in a fatal crash in
Estonia in 2000.
His loss rocked the sport to its core, and he is remembered in a beautiful memorial garden in the town he made famous.
Then, eight years later, Michael’s father,
Robert, was killed at a race his son was also competing in. Indeed, he endured the great shock of coming across the accident and trying to comfort his father before the medics arrived, a situation that no 19-year-old should have to endure.
Robert had been lucky to survive a previous accident in 1994 which left him with one leg two inches shorter than the other before corrective surgery, and Michael has childhood memories of his father being house-bound for over a year afterwards.
Through sheer guts and determination he made his comeback, and the same qualities were evident when his son decided to race to honour his memory just two days after his death. Not alone did he win, he also broke the course record on an emotional day.
It’s clear in the book that Michael and William were always very close, two road racing fanatics even though the brother in the middle, Daniel, had no interest and served as a soldier in Afghanistan.
Michael has a reputation for being an aggressive, in-your-face, risk-taker in the sport, whereas William was a more subtle, considered man on two wheels.
‘With William, I can ride wheel to wheel with him,’ he notes. ‘Him on the brakes, me on the brakes, no bother the two of us. We’re like synchronised swimmers on wheels.
‘We can run centimetres between each other because he’s so smooth; his lines and his style are just perfect, so you always know where he’s going to be.’
Given recent events, Michael’s thoughts on the inherent dangers in the sport are also insightful. ‘It’s a funny thing to say, but accidents are a way of life for riders. I’ve come off my bike so many times I’ve lost count.
‘You look into the history of any racer and there’ll be broken bones somewhere down the line. But the mad thing is, we always get back up, get back on.
‘There’s only one thing that stops us. One thing that can stop us. And that’s the thing no one talks about.’
A brave but broken man left to carry on the proud family tradition, nobody would be critical if Michael did decide enough was enough. ALAN AHERNE
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