MICHAEL Dunlop swept to an emphatic victory in the opening race of Isle of Man TT 2014 to claim his 8th TT win in the Dainese Superbike race on Saturday.
Dunlop broke the lap record on both of his opening laps, to open up a big gap over his nearest rivals, and once he had caught his main rivals on the road it was just a matter of keeping his machine going for the 6-lap race.
The victory was the first for BMW in 75 years, and Dunlop paid tribute to his team for their work behind the scenes.
“They have been just fantastic,” he said. “No one knew for sure how the BMW would handle the six laps, but it was just brilliant to ride and it’s all down to the enormous amount of work by the team.”
Dunlop was over 20 seconds ahead of runner up Guy Martin, who was just under three second clear of third placed rider, Manxman Conor Cummins, who was delighted with his podium position.
The race also saw a new outright lap record with Bruce Anstey completing his sixth lap in 132.28mph.
Report and photographs by Bill Dale (Facebook: Isle of Man TT 2014)
