Michael Dunlop's verdict after first North West 200 win on a Ducati

Victory in Supersport Race 1 at the 2025 North West 200 was Michael Dunlop’s first at the Northern Irish road race since 2016, as well as his first on a Ducati.

Dunlop’s switch to the Panigale V2 in the Supersport class for this year marks the end of a long run he’s had with the Yamaha R6.

That relationship was something he considered ending in 2024, when he tried a Triumph Street Triple 765, but ultimately he switched back to the Yamaha for the TT.

Winning at the North West on the Panigale means almost immediate success for the new bike in the MD Racing Supersport entry, Dunlop having previously raced the bike at the Daytona 200 earlier this year; but this was his first road race on the bike.

“We’re up against the short circuit people here who are fast as anything,” Dunlop told BBC Sport NI in his post-race interview.

“I always knew I could ride well here, I knew I’ve always had it in me; but to do it today, especially on the Ducati as well, on the V2, it’s definitely different.”

Dunlop said that he had been struggling with the setup of the Panigale V2 earlier in the week.

“It’s nice to win back in Northern Ireland again, especially at the international level,” Dunlop said.

“On the [Supersport] I must say at the start of the week we were struggling a little bit with setup. The boys made a fantastic job, got the job done.

“On the last lap there I said ‘Get yourself in the right palace at the right time, I’ve been mugged here before so I need to get my finger out’.

He added: “The slipstream is beautiful around here. In the end I just said ‘You know what, it’s time I stuck a couple of sectors in here just to get a push on’.

“I knew Davey [Todd] was tight on the brakes, he was deep, he was everywhere, so was Cooper as well, so we just kept pushing on.”

Michael Dunlop "delighted" by Superstock success

Dunlop won again in the Superstock race, the third and final race of Thursday.

He’d crashed earlier on in the day on the Superstock bike during practice, causing damage to his shoulder that prevented him from braking at full power, he said during his post-race interview after the Supersport race.

Speaking after the Superstock race, Dunlop told BBC Sport NI: “I rode hard for that, I think I deserved it. It was tough going, Davey [Todd] got away a bit at the start and I had to claw him back a bit.

“I passed Dean [Harrison] into Station, it was tight but I needed to make in-roads into Davey before he left.

“So, delighted. It’s been a hard week.

“Obviously, the crash [on Thursday morning] on the [Superstock] bike, just took me a minute [...] to understand that I wasn’t going to have the same issue again.

“The boys worked hard to get it fixed, she’s a bit rough and ready so apologies to the sponsors but she’s going.”

He added: “It’s been hard here because I haven’t won in a long time so it’s been a bit of a kick in the face.

“But to win again, it’s now another weight off my shoulders.

“I’ve not come here fully fit for a long time. When I crashed earlier today I thought ‘This is going to be another sh*tshow’.

“But we’ve overcome it, won two races tonight.”

Michael Dunlop had a Superbike “issue”

The only race Dunlop didn’t win on Thursday was Superbike Race 1 that opened proceedings.

The Ballymoney rider said that he’d been encountering an issue on corner exits with his top class machine.

“We’ve had a small issue with the Superbike just coming off the turns,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get talking to somebody in Germany, at BMW, to get that rectified. I’ve proved tonight that I’m still fast.”