DUNLOP TO DUCATI
19-time TT race winner Michael Dunlop signs dream roads deal with PBM Ducati
‘We wouldn’t be taking this on if we didn’t think we could win’
Michael Dunlop has joined forces with Paul Bird in a sensational deal that will see him compete on a Ducati V4 R at the Isle of Man TT and NW200 this year.
The 30-year-old has penned a one-year deal with Paul Bird Motorsport, who will provide Dunlop with a factory-supported VisionTrack Ducati V4 R in both Superbike and Senior races. Dunlop joined the team at the official two-day BSB test at Jerez, riding PBM’s V4 test bike and both of the V4 R superbikes ridden by Josh Brookes and Christian Iddon. Across the four timed sessions on the opening day, Dunlop completed a total of 49 laps.
“It went really well to be fair,” PBM team co-ordinator Johnny Mowatt told MCN. “He came in and appeared to have enjoyed it. He was pleasantly surprised, which is a good sign. First impressions are always the lasting ones.
“He has just been focusing on familiarising himself with the bike. He hasn’t ridden a bike for a good number of months since his operation, so he isn’t bike fit yet but he seems happy and showed good form.”
In Jerez, Dunlop completed six and seven-lap runs, using the same 2020-spec Pirellis as everybody else in the BSB paddock. However, MCN understands he will run his favoured Dunlops on the roads. The new deal means that the V4 R will compete at the TT for the very first time, having been released at the beginning of 2019. PBM used the bike at the NW200 last year, with Alastair Seeley finishing fifth in the Superbike race. The bike dominated in BSB and also took several victories in the World Superbike Championship, however, competing on the roads is a completely different task. “The bike definitely has the potential to be fast on the roads,” said Mowatt. “The BSB riders have said that it’s quite a tight bike which mirrors a GP machine, so it perhaps doesn’t ride the bumps as well as others in the series. However, whether it will absorb the roads is a different question. The roads compared to short circuit racing are two completely different events. Comparing Brands Hatch to the TT course is like night and day.” Dunlop’s last win in the Senior TT race came in 2017, on board the Hawk Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000. Meanwhile, his last victory in the Superbike race came in 2018 when he rode for Tyco BMW. In total, Dunlop has two Senior TT wins and four Superbike victories. At last year’s TT he was victorious in the Lightweight TT, but finished off the podium in the Superbike and Senior events. The last two years have seen Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison, both BSB regulars, take the TT to another level. The pair dominated in 2019 and are now the benchmark for everybody else. “100%, we wouldn’t be taking this challenge on if we didn’t think we could win,” Mowatt commented when asked whether or not the Dunlop/PBM partnership could challenge Hickman and Harrison.
“For sure, the bar has been raised over the last 12 months or so and despite not having the best of times at last year’s TT, Michael has another year of racing under his belt. He has plenty of experience and, of course, has 19 TT victories! So, hopefully we’ll be able to surprise a few people this year.” PBM last competed at the TT with Kawasaki machinery in 2015. Ian Hutchinson led the team to victory in the Superstock race, as well as podiums in the Superbike and Senior TT events.