Michael Dunlop 'working hard' on Superbike plans for 2024 Isle of Man TT

Dunlop rode a Honda Fireblade for the Hawk Racing Team in 2023 after switching from a Suzuki GSX-R1000R and clinched his first Superbike victory around the TT Course since 2018.

The Ballymoney man also recorded his fastest ever laps of the 37.72-mile course at over 135mph as he returned to Honda machinery in the blue riband class for the first time since 2013, when he signed for the official Honda squad in the TT Legends team.

Dunlop surpassed England’s John McGuinness last June to become the second most successful TT rider ever with 25 wins after he sealed a Superbike, Supersport (x2) and Supertwin four-timer.

The 35-year-old now requires one more win to equal the record held by his legendary uncle Joey, which has stood since 2000.

Dunlop, who was among the big names in attendance at the official 2024 TT launch on the Isle of Man on Wednesday, said: “This job’s always changing and you have to go with it. We’re working hard to try and put stuff together to try and get a big bike sorted.

“At this time of year it’s quite hard because there’s not the same finances that once were maybe in the paddock and not the same amount of factory outfits as such.

“There’s only a couple now and the seats are getting smaller, so we’re doing different things to try and do that.

“Again, that’s the same as every year. When you’re running your own team you’re trying to juggle a lot of hurdles to try and get on the grid and try and make yourself as competitive as possible.”

Dunlop has been riding a Triumph 765 Supersport bike in pre-season testing and claimed a win on the British machine at the Enkalon Trophy Ulster Superbike meeting at Bishopscourt in Co Down on Easter Saturday.

Last year, he set the first 130mph lap on a Supersport machine at the TT (130.403mph) and won both races on his MD Racing Yamaha R6.

Rival Peter Hickman – the 136mph outright lap record holder at the TT – also lapped at 130mph on his Trooper Triumph by PHR (130.219mph), slightly outside Dunlop’s new benchmark for the class.

Dunlop has yet to confirm whether he will stick with the Triumph once the major road racing season gets underway or revert to the Yamaha R6.

The Next Generation Supersport rules introduced last year permit larger displacement machines, such as the Triumph 765, Ducati Panigale V2 and Suzuki 750, to go up against the traditional 600cc Honda and Yamaha machines.

Speaking at the launch event, Dunlop said: “The 600 class has went with the new generation stuff where we’re going into this thing like a mini-Superbike now this year, and you’re allowed to change a bit of geometry with the chassis; it’s like having a mini-Superbike.

“It’s getting exciting and it’s going to be a lot of work because of the new stuff and the way the next generation stuff has went; nobody really knows the way things are going with it. But it’s obviously where they see the future of 600 racing.”

Practice for the 2024 TT is scheduled to commence on Monday May 27 with the opening Supersport race lifting the curtain on race week on Saturday, June 1.