(26-06-2018, 12:16 AM)AntG Wrote: MD had nothing but issues with the Superbike which I'd put down to the lack of time on it, a race at Cookstown and a couple at the NW(one of which he DNF) prior to the TT is not ideal preparation, meanwhile Peter, Dean and Conor were all riding the same bikes as the year before and all did pre-season testing and several BSB meetings before the NW. Michael was 4 seconds down on the best lap he's ever done at the TT riding the Tyco bike, his best lap this year was 133.8 on a stocker(would have been 134 if not for slower traffic) he also smashed his own 600 lap record and the Lightweight record, he still has what it takes.

I just think Michael needs to race more, his schedule seems to get smaller every year and when you're up against a rider like Hickman who races full time(and is capable of winning) in one of the most competitive domestic championships there is you need as much track time as you can get. PH, DH and CC all put the foundations in early this year while Michael was umming and ahhing on his options(remember until mid-March most people believed he'd be riding a Suzuki again as he'd ridden a MotoGP bike in Malaysia and tested the GSXR in Spain) then when he made a deal with Tyco he ran out of time.

I don't believe for one minute that he's done for because we know he can lap faster as he did that 2 years ago, he just needs to have some continuity in his career and get a lot more laps under his belt whether it be Irish Nationals or a handful of BSB rounds a year.

An interesting observation/opinion. 
I was standing at the Mugen awning this year just looking at the bikes and taking a few pictures when Philip Neill stopped right next to me and started talking to Tim Glover.
The conversation soon turned to MD, and although he was not slagging MD off by any means, Philip was quite frank about him, his feedback, and lack of track time with it.
I was quite surprised at how open he was. I was standing so close, that I could have been mistaken for being with them. I got the distinct impression that all was not well in the Tyco camp