MADE AT THE MANX: MODERN DAY GREATS

As part of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Manx Grand Prix, a special ‘Made at the Manx Grand Prix’ lap will tell the story of the most successful racers to have graced the ‘Manx’ and who went on to reach great heights in the world of motorcycle racing.

World Champions and road racing greats who all made their mark at the Manx Grand Prix will take part or be represented in a spectacular story-telling parade scheduled to take place at 15:00 on Saturday 26 August.

Representing the modern era of the Manx Grand Prix are two men that have gone on to break records and reach legendary status at the Isle of Man TT Races, with a total of 41 victories between them.

IAN HUTCHINSON

A good friend of nine-time TT winner David Jefferies, Yorkshire’s Hutchinson tackled the Mountain Course for the first time in 2003 when, riding a Honda CBR600, he lapped at 116.65mph on his way to taking a narrow 2.8s victory in the Senior Newcomers Manx GP. At the time, it was the fastest ever lap by a circuit newcomer at either the TT or Manx.

Ian lapped at 116.65mph on his way to taking a narrow 2.8s victory in the Senior Newcomers Manx GP

Moving up to the TT in 2004, he was immediately finishing inside the top ten and lapping at more than 120mph and after two strong years as a privateer, his first break came with McAdoo Kawasaki in 2006 when he recorded two podiums. Switching to HM Plant Honda a year later, he took his first win in the Supersport Race and finished on the podium in all four races whilst further wins were taken for Padgett’s Honda in 2009.

Hutchinson continued with Padgett’s in 2010 and created history when he became the first and only rider thus far to win five races in a week and although serious injury essentially robbed him of the next four years of his career, more wins and podiums were taken between 2015 and 2017.

Overcoming both injury and adversity on more than one occasion, Hutchinson has taken a total of 16 wins and 27 podiums at the TT to firmly put himself in the category of a modern-day great. One of the Padgett’s Honda’s that Hutchinson took to victory in 2010 will be ridden in the parade.

MICHAEL DUNLOP

Michael Dunlop was aged just 17 when he made his Manx Grand Prix debut in 2006 and he immediately followed in the footsteps of his illustrious father, Robert, when he won the Newcomers C Race on his 125cc Honda. He also lapped at more than 112mph on his 250cc Honda and although his TT debut the following year was low-key, with a best finish of 25th, the rest, as they say, is history.

At just 17 following in the footsteps of his father, Dunlop won the Newcomers C Race on his 125cc Honda

Despite the loss of Robert at the 2008 North West 200, good results were taken at that year’s TT and a year later he became the third member of the Dunlop family to win a TT race with victory in the second Supersport Race. He’s since gone on to become the most successful Supersport racer of all time with 11 wins whilst he’s also the only rider to win TT races for six different manufacturers – Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, Suzuki and Paton.

Dunlop set the outright lap record in 2016 and has won races in all categories and his winning spree continues with this year’s TT meeting seeing him take four more victories. This moved him into second on the all-time winner’s list with 25 wins, just one behind the record held by his famous uncle Joey and surely, it’s a question of when, not if, he’ll become the greatest and most successful TT racer ever.