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Michael Dunlop secured a win double in the Supersport and Superstock classes in Thursday night’s racing at the North West 200.<\/b><\/p>\n
The victories were the Northern Ireland rider’s first at the event since 2016 and took his overall career tally of North West successes to seven.<\/p>\n
Dunlop clinched a dramatic win in the opening Supersport race by blasting past eventual runner-up Richard Cooper on the run to Mather’s Cross on the final lap and went on to win by a margin of just 0.378 seconds.<\/p>\n
For the 36-year-old, it was only his second victory in the class at the North West, although he has dominated the middleweight category at the Isle of Man TT, where he has won a record 13 Supersport races.<\/p>\n
The Northern Ireland rider was having his first outing at an international road race on a V2 Ducati, having previously campaigned Yamaha machinery in the category.<\/p>\n
Dunlop set a new lap record on his final circuit at 118.65mph, with Davey Todd taking third behind Cooper, and Dean Harrison, Peter Hickman and Jamie Coward making up the top six leaderboard.<\/p>\n
The top five had been involved in a thrilling battle throughout, with just tenths of a second separating them during the four-lap race.<\/p>\n
Dunlop was fifth after lap one, fourth after the second lap and third after lap three, before making up ground and executing his decisive move.<\/p>\n
“It’s nice to win back in Northern Ireland, especially at international level,” a delighted Dunlop told BBC Sport NI after the race.<\/p>\n
“I got myself into the right place at the right time and thought that it was time to get my finger out.<\/p>\n
“I really enjoyed it and knew I always had it in me to ride well here.”<\/p>\n
The Ballymoney man made light of suffering the after-effects of a spill in Superstock qualifying earlier on Thursday by occupying the top spot on the podium.<\/p>\n
“I damaged the shoulder a wee bit and struggled to brake a bit. It’s not 100% but I can’t complain. I’ll keep the head down.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n