Michael Dunlop ponders BSB possibilities: “Did we miss that boat?”

Michael Dunlop says he’s “too long in the tooth” to race in the British Superbike Championship, but has admitted that he might have liked to have given the short circuit series “a shot”.

Dunlop has taken part in short circuit races here and there through his career, including in BSB in the Supersport class as recently as last year.

But unlike many of his road racing rivals – such as Peter Hickman, Davey Todd, and Dean Harrison – the Ballymoney man has never put serious effort into a BSB campaign, instead maintaining a focus on the roads in his racing programme.

By now, the 33-time Isle of Man TT winner feels he’s too old to start making a more substantial effort in British Superbikes, even though he does feel he could “put in a half decent charge at it,” given enough time.

“Too long in the tooth now,” Dunlop said when asked whether or not he would consider racing in BSB, speaking to BBC Sport NI.

“It's hard. Did we miss that boat? Without a doubt.”

Dunlop admitted that he never really tried to make something happen in BSB, but that he might have like to have done so.

“But did I ever go looking for it? Probably not, and I probably would have liked to have had a bit of a shot at it,” he said.

“With time I could fall into it, there's no reason that if we spent a bit of time doing BSB I could put in a half decent charge at it.”

Dunlop has enjoyed another successful year on the roads.

He claimed wins at the North West 200, the TT and the Tandragee 100.