William Dunlop can now head for next month's Isle of Man TT boosted by not only a second place finish in Saturday's opening Supersport race at the North West.

His superb performance considering the adversity he faced in the lead up to the race earned him a welcome sponsorship deal, brokered by his No1 fan, Ian Paisley MP.

Portballintrae's Bayview Hotel owner Trevor Kane now joins William's backers for the TT after watching the Ballymoney rider come so close to putting the Dunlop name back on the familiar top step at the North West, just being pipped into second by Alastair Seeley, with brother Micheal third.

William had been left to self-finance his TT and Irish road racing programme this season after a new team deal fell through. He came into the North West with two bikes gifted by Mar Train owner Tim Martin as the Saintfield businessman wound down his team.

William said: 

"I am very grateful to Tim and now to Trevor Kane and the other local business backers who have rallied round me and shown belief in me. Hopefully I showed on Saturday that I can repay them.

"I'd also like to thank Ian Paisley MP and Shebang PR for the part they played in helping to set up the deal with the Bayview through Trevor. We also have the Anchor Bar, Portstewart and PortugualPropertyExperts.com on board so things are looking up."

Jim Gracey