Joey Dunlop faces an uphill battle in his attempt this weekend to add to his record of 22 Tourist Trophy races at the Isle of Man.
The 56-year-old will be taking on one of the most demanding motorcycle road races in the world for the 21st time having recently returned from a crash in the Tanderagee road races in Co Armagh. He has had a finger amputated and he is still recovering from injury. But such is his determination that victory in the 125cc Ultra-Lightweight TT over the daunting 37.7-mile Mountain Course must be on the cards.
Dunlop would especially like to win in this 50th year of Honda competing in the TT races, as all of his wins have been on Honda machines.
As well as his 22 TT wins at the Isle of Man, Dunlop has won the Formula One world championship five times in a row, from 1982, he was the first Irish rider to win a prestigious Motor Cycle New Man of The Year award, in 1984, and that same year he also received a Texaco Sports Star award. He was awarded an MBE in 1986 and an OBE in 1996.
Joey's brother Robert Dunlop is also hoping to race despite being on the injured list. Phillip McCallen will not race, however, having announced his retirement this week. The Ulsterman won the Formula One, Senior and Production TTs last year.
Other Irish riders expected to do well this weekend include Gary Dynes, Owen McNally, Denis McCullough, Richard Britton, Derek Young and James Courtney. Dubliner Andy Kinsella is to compete in the sidecar races on a 1998 600cc Honda sponsored by Mulhuddart garage owner Bob Mullan, with Ian Armstrong his hardworking "passenger".
Simon Beck topped the practice leaderboard for tomorrow's Formula One race but the likely winner of the sixlap event is expected to be one of the two Honda works riders, Ian Simpson or Michael Rutter.
Beck gave the Honda men something to think about with a 121.61mph lap to hoist his Kawasaki nine seconds clear of the field.
But, though he has put immediate pressure on Simpson and Rutter, who are riding 750cc RC45s in a race that has been won every year since 1982 by a rider on Honda, Beck accepts that the pace will quicken.
"I expect it will hot up, but I have something in reserve," said Beck, who is aiming for a maiden victory on the island, as is rival Rutter.
Rutter, who took second place in last year's Formula One race, has been given a major boost. Following his second consecutive victory in the Northwest 200 race, the Brierley Hill rider has been given the full works machine originally intended to be raced by McCallen.
"Things are going well," Rutter said. "I am building up to be in a position to win races - this is my fifth year on the Island and each year I have progressed, last year taking second and third places. Hopefully, I will be better than that this time."
A feast of Southern road racing starts with the Esat Digifone-sponsored Dundalk Races on June 27th and 28th, to be run over a new 3.2 miles circuit half a mile north of the town centre. The circuit will take in the bypass road, racecourse road, a section of the old Dundalk-Newry road and the Ballymascanlon Roundabout.
The 53rd annual Skerries 100 races are scheduled for July 4th. They are to be sponsored by Coca Cola and boast a prize fund of £12,000. The 25th anniversary meeting of the Fore races is to be held on July 18th and 19th over the 3.5-mile road circuit near Castlepollard, Co Westmeath, with a prize fund of more than £9,000.
The GT2/GT3 endurance race scheduled for Mondello Park on June 20th and 21st has been cancelled and replaced by a "clubbie" on the 21st.
Round three of the Jerry Murphy Tyres-sponsored Munster Autocross Championship will be held tomorrow at Killarney, where local driver Ger Brennan is fancied to win in his powerful Chevrolet Special. He won the opening round at Clonakilty but was beaten by Richard Percy of Cloughjordan, driving a Kawasaki Special, in round two at Moneygall. Brennan has a six-point lead over Gerard Lucey, who was third in both opening rounds. Percy is five points behind Lucey.
