JOEY 20 YEARS ON
Stephen Davison recalls the road race legend
At the end of a hot day’s racing and winning on the little Irish lanes of the Carrowdore 100 meeting, Joey Dunlop rode his bike back to the paddock, pulled off his leathers and sat down in his van to enjoy a mug of tea and doorstep sandwich. In 1993, when this photograph (right) was taken, the Ballymoney man was already a road racing legend. A five-time Formula One world champion, Joey had recently equalled Mike Hailwood’s record of TT victories. Despite his fame, the quietly spoken Ulsterman remained unchanged, devoid of airs or graces he was enjoying a day at the races as he always had regardless of the dozens of race fans peering in at their hero.
Like any great sportsman, Joey Dunlop’s reputation rests upon his achievements. Five Formula One world titles, 24 Ulster Grand Prix wins, 13 North West 200 victories and a record tally of 26 TT triumphs have created an unrivalled road racing CV but the statistics don’t tell the whole story.
There are racers who feel they could have reached the same heights as Joey had injuries, breakdowns or other forms of ill fortune not got in the way. Do they think the Ballymoney man was immune to these twists of fate? During the early days of his career Joey struggled for finance. His bikes were rarely the fastest and often ground to a premature halt. Just when his fortunes had begun to change the loss of close friends in terrible crashes led him to question whether he should continue to race. In 1989 his own body was smashed to pieces at Brands Hatch. Doctors told the Ballymoney racer his career was over.
Joey didn’t let the ifs, buts and maybes of life get in his way, though. Spurred on by adversity, he defied time for over three decades, finally claiming some of his greatest TT victories at 48 years old.