Dunlop wins with broken pelvis
Michael defies wrecked pelvis and ribs to take Armoy victory
Michael Dunlop claimed his eighth victory in the Race of Legends at Armoy on Saturday despite riding with an injured pelvis, cracked hip joint and broken ribs sustained in a huge highside at the Southern 100 just two weeks earlier.
“I haven’t sat on a bike since I was up in the air so I knew it would be a hard day,” Dunlop said after taking wins in the Open and feature events.
The local hero, who lives just a couple of miles from the Co Antrim circuit, used crutches to get to the start line and mounted his Tyco BMW S1000RR via a set of steps.
“The pelvis isn’t good,” Dunlop said as he battled through the pain barrier. “I can’t ride the way I normally do over the jumps on
the back road but I’ve been able to do enough today.”
Dunlop missed last year’s Armoy races following the death of his brother, William, and hadn’t competed at an Irish National race for over a year. Battered and bruised and with his disastrous Southern 100 meeting his only race outing since the TT, he was only fourth fastest in Friday’s timed qualifying session behind Irish trio Derek Sheils (Suzuki), Derek McGee (Kawasaki) and Michael Sweeney (BMW), who have been doing all the winning in the recent Irish National meetings at Kells, Walderstown and Faugheen. Unfazed by the competition, Dunlop moved to the front on just the second lap of the Open race passing McGee on the exit of the final 150mph corner. And with a clear road ahead, the Tyco BMW star cantered home to win by 4.4 seconds from Sheils.
Sheils, who had won seven Irish National superbike races in a row before Armoy, provided the strongest resistance in the Race of Legends. But despite posting the fastest lap, the Dubliner was unable to prevent Dunlop claiming his eighth victory in his home race by 2.6 seconds. “The BMW is running a standard engine but I was able to get the drive I needed and was a lot faster through the last corner,” Dunlop explained afterwards. “I am injured and not able to ride at full capacity. The boys have been racing all year and I haven’t been racing with them but I know how fast I am and I knew I could do it.”
‘I can’t ride the way I normally do but it was enough’