Michael Dunlop’s 30th Career Isle of Man TT won Monday’s Supersport Race marks Ducati’s first since 1995.
The Northern Irish dominated the Supersport class with the TT since 2019 and continued undefeated on Monday in the opening race of the bike in 2025.
Dunlop overturned a nearly eight-second deficit over Honda’s Dean Harrison at the end of the first lap, winning over 10 seconds on the checkered flag.
This was the TT’s most successful rider’s 30th victory, representing the victory of his seventh different manufacturer, switching from Yamaha in Supersport to Ducati Machines in 2025.
Dunlop’s victory is Ducati’s first victory since Robert Holden’s success in Singles TT in 1995.
There was a strong Northwest 200 at the Ducati Panigale V2, but Dunlop struggled throughout practice week to get the bike to where it needed, and missed the pace on Monday on the opening lap of the Supersport race at TT.
However, a small preload tweak at his pit stop made him let Harrison get away on the final lap, making it seem he could unleash his pace.
Commenting on the success of Manx Radio TT, Dunlop said:
“Obviously, the guys in Milwaukee really wanted to work hard with Ducati, they wanted to win in TT.
“The boys made some lovely weebikes.
“It was tough getting used to bikes, but that’s because they’re V-twins, but obviously the main thing for me is winning for all the boys, especially for Ducati. It’s nice to bring them back to the top.”
He added:
“It was a bit like a big bike, especially here, not many laps with brand new bikes.
“And obviously, to win on a new bike, we knew it was difficult with the little laps and bike features we actually had, but we just had a young man wearing a big hat.
“The weebikes are buzzing nicely – and it took a lap to dial.”
Dunlop’s first victory at Ducati fell apart in the 11th hour, years after he intended to campaign a big bike class with Paul Bird Motorsport in TT.
In addition to the Supersport victory, Dunlop also finished second in Superbike TT on Monday. His rear tire problem is that he finished just 1.2 from race winner Davie Todd.
