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.

His bike didn't look at all right through Kirk Michael in the Senior, the back end was bobbing around every lap through the section just before the petrol station.

Yeah it was shaking all the way through down Glencrutchery Road as well. Serious issues and way down on the lap and race times he was setting in the Senior on Stuart Hickens bike 2 years prior.

(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

It'll be a shame if he ends up on the move again because I think they're made for each other, Dunlop and TAS have the roads in their blood and could be an unbeatable partnership. Phillip McCallen has said for years that Michael would be better for it if he did the British Championship around the road events.

I do not believe it is in Michael Dunlop's DNA to ride for 4th place. Personally I feel he was handicapped by a bike problem, either tyres or handling not quite right.

(26-06-2018, 11:16 AM)AntG Wrote: It'll be a shame if he ends up on the move again because I think they're made for each other, Dunlop and TAS have the roads in their blood and could be an unbeatable partnership. Phillip McCallen has said for years that Michael would be better for it if he did the British Championship around the road events.

It should make the perfect team, but I also heard there was/is bad blood between them.
I would also be interested to know who put MD in the team, Munich or Tyco themselves?

There WAS definitely bad blood between them which according to MD's book began when Munich pulled its support for the Buildbase team who MD was racing for at the end of 2014(despite an all round great season with Michael getting wins at the NW and TT and also Kiyonari finishing runner up to Byrne in BSB) then in 2016 MD was riding for Builbase again and Hutchy his main rival was the fella on the Munich backed Tyco bike so it all boiled over. HOWEVER it has been said for many years going back to the days when Tyco were Relentless Suzuki that Phillip Neill wanted MD on one of his bikes and in an interview I saw this year he looked chuffed to bits when MD had signed to race a superbike for them. So I don't know what to think about it.

I will stand by what I said though about the problems they had at the TT with the superbike being down to the deal being put together so late in the year and not getting the miles in. Dean Harrison this year did the Donington and Oulton Park weekends of BSB where including the free practice sessions, qualy, warm up and races he covered in excess of 400 miles so it came as no surprise he was riding as fast as he was this year as the more miles you do the sharper you are.

According to one of his mechanics (from the MD team) he had some sort of rear shock ‘failure’.

Ironically, if I’m not mistaken, the issues he had all through the TT was around the rear shock they were using. I understood it to be a different manufacturer than what he was used to. Did he run k-Tech with Hawk?

Clearly something was amiss. Never really got close to the times he was doing on the Hawk bike in 16.

Do not agree with anyone who believes MD is not capable of Hicky’s LR. We have never seen Michael on a sperbike on a flying lap in race trim with a race win on the line.

Yeah they ran K-Tech, totally agree with your last sentence too, he was a gnats away from a 134 in 2016 and that was because he was slowing down.

I`m enjoying this post nice to read the different opinions. Coming back to the Senior Dean Harrison seemed to have the run to Ballacraine
nailed and was around 3.5 seconds quicker on the big bikes than Dunlop but in the Senior he was only about 2 seconds down so I thought he was more on it until the oil situation. Regarding lap speeds they were unbelievable but how safe were they. Somebody posted on here Hickman passing 3 back markers through Rhencullen ,how safe is that? and on the last lap Roy Moore said Hickman was going to catch a number of back markers yet he broke the sector record to the Bungalow, how did he deal with the back markers? and some footage I`ve seem in my opinion he seemed to be pushing it beyond safe limits on some corners. So how safe was Hickman`s lap and was he riding it like a short circuit? MD as I have said respects the yellows and also the back markers as shown in the Superstock race on the mountain which may have cost him the race? MD got it wrong this year but his quick laps are probably a lot safer than Hickman or Harrison. Perhaps Splashdown would like to comment as he is the man whose been there and done it and is opinion is to be respected.

Thank you eman1948, I am humbled by your kind remarks. There are those within the organisation who do not value my remarks, and as a result, I decided to retire from this incredible sport.
However, with regards the backmarkers, this is a subject close to my heart, as it relates to the ridiculous starting order in current use, apparently to improve safety. In my opinion, it does not improve safety, and causes spectators utter confusion, and the need to follow the races on an App, when they should be watching the bikes go past........well if you're not able to watch the bikes 'cos you're looking at your bleedin' iphone, what's the point of being there? AND it must be a safety issue if a bike is coming towards you out of control and you ain't watching!
Anyway, with that off my chest, I give total credit to everyone at the front of the field, particularly Connor, who had a fantastic TT.
I was travelling up to Aviemore for the Highland Two Day Classic Trial when the Senior was on, so I only got a rough idea of what really happened. The speeds of the leading two was incredible. Their machinery must have been set up to perfection, and it seems that Michael's was not.
The remarks about doing the short circuits is spot on. The year I won, I was riding British Championship events, plus Scarborough and the North West, and it makes a big difference. I agree with others on this, Michael would have the pace on a sorted bike, and with a lot more miles under his belt. He DOES seem to have issues with teams, which is very interesting. Mind you,I don't think many teams today would have coped with Joey!!
The ACU received many complaints about the speed of the leading riders IN 1924, when Jimmy Simpson was the first man to lap the course at 60mph. (Incidentally, that was in the Junior TT. How often has the Junior race held the outright record?) The thinking at the time was that it courted bad publicity with the general public. It was stated that Simpson was riding in a reckless fashion, and beyond the safe limits. Some things never change, but this year has really brought in a changing of the guard. Who would have thought that Michael would finish a distant 4th in the Senior
I won't watch another TT, Classic TT, or Manx live, whilst the present starting order is used, but nevertheless, the event is a superb spectacle, and I salute all the riders, in particular those who break through new barriers. Long may it continue.

I've not yet seen Peter Hickman look out of place/road(Steve Plater looked more "edgy" in a couple of places back in the day) out there and his speed increase has corresponded in a proper fashion with each additional year of competing, with ref to the Rhencullen/Hickman thing I was watching just before Rhencullen at the end of Kirk Michael for the Senior, PH caught the group of riders right there, throttled off on the approach gave them enough road and although I couldn't see the exit the way he set them up and with his speed differential would have passed them easily and in context safely, even at those speeds a slower rider does not just appear right in front of you, you'll normally catch a glimpse/reflection somewhere ahead and it's then down to setting them up and overtaking with superior exit or approach speed rather than riding up behind them scrubbing off loads of speed.

I watched the Super bike race this year from the Conker fields. The first time Dean Harrison came through I gasped as I thought he was going to drop it. He was power sliding it after the K tree, I though he had nearly lost the back but he done it lap after lap.
I am not sure that's the way to ride a road circuit.
The TV coverage showed that a few of the top runners were doing it at different places.

DH always looks on the ragged edge, that is just his style, spectacular, a bit like the great Phillip McCallen. PH is a totally different kettle of fish with his smother style, very Joey/McGuinness, I can see him going on from here with plenty of wins now that he has broke his duck.
As previously stated, I am a massive MD fan but unfortunately he has taken his eye off the ball with his lack of riding and more interested in rallying so hope he knuckles down and sorts the job out for next year.

On the TV there were a number of slow-mo shots showing Deano and Hicky in two wheel slides at very high speeds which were absolutely breathtaking - but not necessarily in a good way.  It looked way too risky for a roads circuit, but I suppose if that's how good the tyres are these days and these boys are doing it week in week out at BSB then they obviously feel that they're in control.

At the end of the day - its a race and these guys are racers.  Risks will be taken.

For my money there is no doubt MD can run at this pace (and probably Hutchy too).

I hope someone comes up with a solution for the yellows soon - you'd think that in a world of GPS and transponders there must be a technical solution not too far away (might sort out the issues with back markers too?).  The idea that a riders response to waved yellows will decide a TT is very unsatisfactory.  Hopefully in the future they can neutralise sectors and just give everyone the same time so there's no incentive to keep racing.

Agreed that they are sliding the back week in week out in BSB, but if if goes wrong there, as it often does, they end up in a gravel trap. At the TT however...

The slow / high motion footage of Dean Harrison I think is from the very fast left/right after Bishopscourt on the run through to Alpine, it used to be a fabulous spectating spot before they restricted the area a few years ago, the quick guys have always been riding like that through there-McG especially, the road is ripply in places and they just just keep it pinned as the bike drifts and grips, it sounds like they are rolling the throttle as they pass by but it's the combination of drifting tyre, pinned throttle and the tyre going from it's tallest ride height to the shorter height right on the edge. The bikes look stable around the front end / headstock whch for me would be more of a concern if the bike was trying to go "into one".

I personally don't see any issue with Hickys riding, I remember when people used to say DJ looked loose and slid everywhere but he was safe as houses.

DJ through the top of Barregarrow was something else to see, drifting crossed up on the back wheel right out to the gutter .... every lap.