TT 2024: Michael Dunlop says 'every record is there to be broken' ahead of history bid

The 35-year-old requires one more victory to match his legendary uncle Joey’s tally of 26 wins, which has stood since the 48-year-old claimed a memorable final treble in 2000, only a few weeks before he tragically lost his life in a racing accident at Tallinn in Estonia.

Dunlop won four times at the 2023 TT to surpass Morecambe’s John McGuinness, who has 23 wins, putting him on the brink of TT immortality.

His third career TT quadruple included his first Superbike win in five years, a double in the Supersport class and a Supertwin success to cap a vintage year for the Ballymoney man.

Dunlop, who also became only the second rider along with Peter Hickman to lap the 37.73-mile Mountain Course at more than 135mph, returns with Stuart and Steve Hicken’s Hawk Racing team to ride the new 2024 Honda Fireblade Superbike but has switched manufacturer for the Supersport races.

He is set to ride a Triumph 765 as he bids for a fifth consecutive win in the class after previously riding a Yamaha R6, on which he set the first 130mph lap on a Supersport machine on his way to victory in the second race last June.

The 35-year-old is Honda mounted on his own MD Racing Superstock machine and sticks with the Italian Paton once more for the Supertwin races.

All eyes are on Dunlop at the TT as anticipation builds ahead of Saturday’s first Monster Energy Supersport race, which offers the Northern Ireland man his first chance to achieve a magical 26th victory.

He credits his achievement as the first rider to record a sub-17 minute lap of the TT Course in the 2016 Superbike race – when Dunlop lapped at 133.37mph from a standing start for a time of 16m 58.439s – and his milestone 130.403mph Supersport lap last year as two of the greatest highlights of his career.

However, beating Joey’s longstanding benchmark would undoubtedly represent his finest hour.

“To be the first person to ever break a sub-17 and now to be the first person ever to do 130mph on a 600 is two of the big highlights of my career, especially around the Isle of Man,” said Dunlop, who posted the fastest lap in opening practice on Monday at 129mph on the Hawk Racing Honda Superbike.

“Truthfully, I think the [130mph Supersport] lap has been something that has been sitting in the wings and people’s ears now for a couple of years and I always thought it was possible.

“Every record is there to be broken; every goal is there to be beaten – that’s just life.

“If I win another 50 TTs, fantastic, if I don’t, I don’t. People have tried for years to win TTs and I’ve been successful enough to win in every class.

“I want more, there’s no doubt about that – I just want to keep trying to win TTs and whatever follows with that follows.

“It’s what I come to do every year and that’s the job in hand. It’s going to be no different this year – I want to win races, that’s the job.”