Man of Man TT superstar Michael Dunlop says his last name is the “best” of all that he says he also needs to “live with the devil.”
The name Dunlop is synonymous with Road Race and the island of Man TT Island, and Joey Dunlop has held the most victory ever in 26 events between 2000 and 2024.
Last year, Michael Dunlop – his ne- surpassed this, bringing the record to 29 wins, keeping the acclaimed in the family.
For all of the successes the Dunlop family has done in road racing over the years, it also had to compete with the low crushing.
Joey Dunlop died in an accident in Estonia just weeks after his 26th and final TT victory, but Michael Dunlop’s brother William and his father Robert were also killed in the race incident.
Talks about the pressure to carry Dunlop’s name and set the highest victory record ever for TT, Michael Dunlop gave the TT Live Podcast a candid answer on this.
“The pressure was always there, but the pressure never really came from outside,” he began.
“We always… my dad has always taught us that the second is the first loser, and achieving is always at the highest level.
“At the height of what my name has with some people, I have to live with the low ones every day from what I have.
“People introduce me to different circles, they started out as the winner of 29 TTs and my dad was a brother.
“So the best you get is dragged at low prices.
“But it is motorsport, it is the devil I have to live with in my daily life.
“The ride wasn’t easy, and the bike itself won some of the best machines, some of the worst machines you could get.
“So, perhaps in my career, I could have made it much easier. A few decisions that were probably not the best. But in my view it was the best for me.”
Michael Dunlop was still “offended” at the superbike opportunity he missed.
Despite the history he made last year, Michael Dunlop admits he has been “offended” for the past 12 months over losing his 30th victory in Superbike TT due to visor issues while he was leading.
“It’s been a long 365 days to try and achieve something that’s on my head since 2023,” he added.
“And obviously when 2024 happened, I was pissed off about my first superbike race for 365 days.
“So what I got on the record was to tire me out not having 30. But we’re never happy. But it took a lot of weight off my shoulders on the TT front.
“It’s funny, people have always asked me, I have always wanted to win TTS.
“But not everyone in life is aiming for a goal, they have actually achieved it.
“My career ambition was to become the greatest TT rider of all time at some point.
“It wasn’t any other ambitions and it wasn’t something like BSB… I pulled it, but it was always TT related.
“So you and your family spent their lives, lost their lives, and tried to achieve what I had achieved.
“People sometimes pretend to try to score goals, but I honestly set out for the goal and achieving that was a massive lift.”