Dunlop gives BMW three wins in a week
BMW Motorrad and Michael Dunlop have repeated history, echoing Georg Meier's legendary Senior TT victory of 1939 on the Isle of Man. Dunlop's third BMW-powered victory of the week came in the most prestigious race of all: the blue riband Senior TT race.
Dunlop's performance today followed the same game plan as his Superbike and Superstock wins earlier in the TT fortnight, as he fought for a lead early on, however the first few laps were incredibly close with the top five riders being within a couple of seconds of one another.
Michael led on corrected time, but not on the roads, by the time he pulled in for his first pit stop. In second place was his brother William Dunlop on the Tyco Suzuki, just 7.7 seconds behind. However a rapid and smooth pit stop from the team's crew got Michael and the BMW S 1000 RR back out and on the road, allowing him to push on.
On lap three, Dunlop set a new Senior TT lap record with a stunning 131.668 mph average around the Isle of Man course. During the second pit stop, Conor Cummins and his team closed the gap on Michael to just six seconds. The Ballymoney rider responded by upping his pace yet further, widening the lead by an extra two seconds within half a lap.
Hard-charging Conor Cummins piled on the pressure, with Guy Martin himself closing the gap on the second placed rider. Seeing his lead reduced on his pit boards, Dunlop dialled up the speed and denied his opponents the chance to close on him.
During the fifth lap Michael led on the roads and had extended his time lead to 8.5s, then to 9.8 by the start of the final lap. Despite this margin, Dunlop kept up the pace, stretching his lead yet further as the grandstand - and BMW Motorrad's first Senior TT victory in 75 years - approached.
Michael crossed the line 14 seconds in front of Manxman Conor Cummins, with Guy Martin 9.7 seconds behind him in third place. Michael's brother William Dunlop crashed during the race, and was airlifted to hospital with a suspected broken leg.
The 25-year-old Michael Dunlop has secured his own place in history by increasing his total to a stunning 11 TT wins, three of them coming this week onboard BMW S 1000 RR machines in the Superbike, Supertstock and now Senior TT races. Michael also became the first rider in history to win four TT races in two consecutive years.
BMW Motorrad UK entered into road racing in 2014 to celebrate Meier's famous victory of 75 years ago, in which he rode his factory Type 255 Kompressor and took BMW Motorrad's first ever TT win. Joining forces with Hawk Racing, the team behind the Buildbase BMW Motorrad British Superbike entry, and supported by BMW Motorrad Motorsport in Germany, BMW Motorrad / Hawk Racing was formed.
Beginning with the North West 200 in May, Dunlop and the team took victories in both the Superstock and Superbike classes as part of their build up to the Isle of Man TT. The BMW Motorrad / Hawk Racing team have now added a further three TT trophies to the tally, proving that the BMW S 1000 RR is a force to be reckoned with in road racing.