Dunlop indicates Ducati Superbike ride for 2026

Michael Dunlop has indicated that he is set to ride a Ducati V4 Superbike at this year's North West 200 and Isle of Man TT international road races. The Northern Ireland rider successfully campaigned a Ducati V2 Supersport machine last year, winning a race on the bike at the North West, and following that up with a double in the middleweight class at the TT. His victories at the TT gave the Italian manufacturer their first wins at the event since late New Zealander Robert Holden was victorious in a Singles race in 1995.

The 37-year-old will race a V2 again this season in conjunction with the Scars Racing team and his own MD Racing outfit, and has revealed on social media that he will continue his partnership with Hawk Racing to run the V4. Posting under his Michael Dunlop MD Racing Facebook account, Dunlop said: "Our little V2 was getting lonely... so we went out and got her a best mate in the V4 RS!!!

"Huge thanks to everyone at Ducati Corsa, Ducati UK, and all our sponsors for helping make this project happen (even if it's come together a bit late! ). "Now it's back to the workshop, then off with the Hawk team next week for testing to see how we get on.

" Dunlop extended his record number of victories at the TT to 33 last year by winning four races, while the Ballymoney rider also claimed a hat-trick at the North West 200 to record his first triumphs at that meeting since 2016 and take his overall tally over the Triangle circuit to eight. He has won TT races aboard machinery supplied by seven different manufacturers - nine wins on Yamahas, seven each on bikes supplied by Honda and Paton, six aboard BMWs, two on a Ducati and one each on Kawasaki and Suzuki bikes. His decision to ride a Ducati in the feature category in 2026 means he will have ridden for the three different manufacturers in three years on the Superbike, having ridden a Honda in 2024 and a BMW in 2025.