Michael Dunlop to ride BMW in 2014 Isle of Man TT

After falling out with Honda TT Legends team that helped him dominate nearly all the races in the 2013 Isle of Man TT and then announcing that he may sit out the 2014 road racing season late last year, Northern Irishman Michael Dunlop has signed with BMW Motorrad UK and Hawk Racing to compete on BMWs for the coming year. The collaboration between BMW Motorrad UK and Hawk Racing—who also run the Buildbase BMW team in the British Superbike Championship—will be backing the 24-year-old Dunlop in a road racing effort for 2014 that will include various international road races. But the team’s main goal will be seeking to commemorate the 75th anniversary of BMW’s historic win by Georg Meier in the 1939 Senior TT race at the Isle of Man TT races this year. Dunlop will be entered in both the Superstock and Superbike classes at the 2014 TT.

“I’m really pleased to have signed for such a strong and competitive team,” Dunlop stated in an Isle of Man TT press office release. “The BMW S 1000 RR certainly has the speed for the TT and, with my experience, the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and Hawk Racing, I know we have a race-winning package. I really thought about sitting out this year, but I have found a team that I am really comfortable with and the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport will make us a force to be reckoned with this year.”

The BMW / Hawk Racing team will be jointly managed by BMW Motorrad UK and Stuart Hicken, fresh from the Buildbase BMW Motorrad team’s best ever performance in the 2013 British Superbike Championship. “We are extremely pleased to have assembled such an experienced racing team,” Hicken said in the press release. “We have been working on it for a while and I genuinely believe that with Michael, the technical expertise from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the BMW S 1000 RR, we have secured all the elements we need to be at the sharp end, challenging for a great result at the TT.”