First insight into Michael Dunlop’s comfort on Ducati at Isle of Man TT

Michael Dunlop completed his first laps of the 2025 Isle of Man TT on his new machinery on Tuesday night.

Bad weather conditions meant Tuesday was reassigned as an untimed session, but it still gave the top riders at the TT an opportunity to check out the Mountain Course.

Dunlop rode his MD Racing Paton for his first lap, then did two laps on a Ducati Panigale V4. He ended his stint on a ROKiT BMW Motorrad Superbike.

Dunlop’s shift from a Yamaha R6 - with which he was won the past six Supersport TT races - to a Ducati is extremely notable this year.

2025 Isle of Man TT: Full practice and race schedule

“He seems happy enough but the conditions aren’t great. It was nice to get a run around, get a feel for everything, then we’ll crack on,” said Gary Dunlop of Hawk Racing and MD Racing.

“It’s the bike to be on. You have to move on. The R6 did its job over the years.

“These are new generation bikes and you have to go with them. It’s good enough for the job, we proved that at the North West 200.

“Him around here could be even better…

“You can’t get over confident in this game but he’s definitely riding well. He’s been riding well since the start of the year, and at the North West 200.

“He got the monkey off his back last year so he could have a good go at the North West 200.

“You’re so tense and uptight about getting [to the Isle of Man TT] that you can’t really have a good go at the North West 200. But we’ve proven that we had a good go.

“He’s riding really well, of course he is. He’s coming to his peak.”

The job falls to Gary Dunlop to keep Michael calm and focused throughout the Isle of Man TT.

“It’s a full time job! He is relaxed. These two weeks are very important to him, we all know that,” he said.

Dunlop returns to the TT this year having smashed his uncle Joey’s record for wins in 2024.

Dunlop broke Joey’s 24-year-old record, and has now stretched his own total to 29 wins, which he is eager to extend again in the next fortnight.