Michael Dunlop has announced on social media that he is set to ride a Ducati V4 for Paul Bird’s British Superbike team at the international road races in 2020.

Dunlop tweeted the news on Saturday evening after revealing recently that he was ‘open to offers’ in terms of a Superbike ride for the season ahead.

The Ballymoney man said:

“Well here it is, Superbike ride for 2020 and doesn’t it look mean as.”

Dunlop will ride the bike for the first time at the official British Superbike test at Jerez in Spain on Sunday.

The 30-year-old competed in the Superbike class for the Tyco BMW team over the past two seasons and won the Superbike race at the TT in 2018 under tragic circumstances after team-mate Dan Kneen was killed in a crash during practice.

He won the Lightweight TT race last year on the Italian Paton machine to move onto 19 victories around the Mountain Course, although he struggled in the bigger capacity classes after injuring his wrist in a spill during testing prior to the North West 200.

Dunlop's first outing on the roads on the PBM Ducati is likely to be at the North West 200 in May.