Joey Dunlop OBE, MBE
Published: Wednesday, 3 June 2009, 4:00PM
A true legend, Joey Dunlop’s success on the Mountain Course is something that will live on forever and it is incredibly doubtful whether anyone will ever come near his amazing record haul of 26 victories. The wins came between 1977 and 2000 and were littered with records along the way and the quiet man from Ballymoney was without doubt the supreme, all-time master of the 37-¾ mile TT circuit.
His debut in 1976 gave no indication of what lay in store but in 1977 a lap in excess of 110mph enabled him to take his first ever win, the victory coming in the one-off Jubilee race. The next few years were relatively lean but he really established himself as a major force in 1980 when he took on, out-thought and defeated, the works Honda’s in the Classic race shattering the outright lap record on his privately owned 750cc Yamaha.
He was duly signed up by the mighty Honda concern and for the next 20 years he would remain a factory rider but he continued to do things in his own, unique manner which made him stand out from the crowd and made him revered all over the world. Whether it was a 125cc, 250cc or Superbike machine, Dunlop was the man to beat and his skills and talent as a motorcycle racer became the stuff of folklore and, quite simply, he made the whole thing look easy.
He fought back from serious injury sustained at a short circuit race in 1989 to equal and then demolish Mike Hailwood’s record number of wins and whilst his list of successes are too long to list, some of the highlights included six straight wins in the Formula One race between 1983 and 1988, three hat tricks in 1985, 1988 and 2000 and a sensational win in the 2000 Formula One race on the factory SP-1 Honda at 48 years of age, the first time he had won a ‘big bike race’ in over 12 years.
A quiet, modest, family man, Joey Dunlop’s knowledge of the Mountain Course was unparalleled and unrivalled but he was tragically killed in a 125cc race in Tallinn, Estonia in July 2000. He will forever remain the greatest rider ever to have competed at the Isle of Man TT races.
