Michael Dunlop has withdrawn his Ducatis from this week’s North West 200, one day before practice was due to begin. The move leaves his immediate road-race plans with a different machine in play, and it opens the door to a longer testing run before the bike is used on the roads.
Dunlop and Ducati at the NW200
He had only announced a factory Ducati partnership for the superbike and superstock classes weeks earlier. Last year, Dunlop delivered Ducati its first victories in 20 years in the supersport class, a sharp result for a rider now weighing up how quickly the new programme can be pushed into road racing.
“With this new full WSBK Ducati V4R version having just arrived to the team at very late notice,” Dunlop said in a statement posted on his social media channels before North West 200 practice, “we feel it is appropriate for the team to continue testing over the coming weeks and develop the bike further.”
Honda, BMW, and the TT
That leaves him with options. Dunlop has both Honda and BMW machinery at his disposal, and Hawk Racing’s Honda bikes are already in the North West 200 paddock. He also shared a photo with the BMW superstock bike he used in 2025, the same machine he ran earlier this month at the Cookstown 100 road race.
He is also leaning away from a quick switch to Ducati for the Isle of Man TT. Dunlop suggested he may stick with alternative machinery there rather than using Ducatis, even as Ducati marks its 100th anniversary this year.
“We are looking forward to working along with Ducati so we can put the project in a good place and get testing done before we get it to the roads in the future,” he said. TT practice is scheduled to start on May 25, and the short gap between the two road-racing events leaves little room for guesswork. Dunlop has shown before that he is willing to change course when the machinery is not where he wants it.
