McGuinness Break world record at TT on Dunlop Tyres

Dunlop’s road race pairing of John McGuinness and Steve Plater scored top honours for Dunlop on the Isle of Man, finishing first and second in the TT Superbike race. The duo were the only two riders to break through the 130mph average lap speed – with McGuinness setting yet another lap record of 130.442mph (17mins 21.29 seconds) on his second of the six lap race, as well as breaking the race distance record with a time of 1:46.07.16. His Dunlop tyres were specifically designed and built in the Birmingham-based Fort Dunlop factory.

The Morecambe man also furthered his and legendary TT status, by claiming his 15th TT win, placing him second in the line-up of all time TT victories behind the great Joey Dunlop. Following the decision to postpone racing on Saturday due to poor weather conditions covering the 37.73 mile mountain course, both McGuinness and Plater were itching to take to the seats of their CBR1000RR Fireblades in Monday’s welcomed clear and warm racing conditions.

John McGuinness said, “Leading the race from the first lap to the finish is a great feeling. I felt strong on the first lap out and knew I had to give it a real good go then, to set me up for the rest of the race. I could see my boards around the circuit with +4, +8 and then +11 and although I didn’t want to ease off too much, I knew I was ok for the last lap so took it a bit easier.”

Steve Plater commented, “My aim for today was to get on the podium so I’m certainly happy with second and to achieve a 1-2 with John is fantastic. I started seventh and just knuckled down and got on with it, overtaking where I needed to in order to get up the front. The small groups of riders made it hard to overtake safely on some parts of the course but I knew I had to keep at it as I didn’t want to risk someone closing the gap on me from behind by too much. I’ve been asked so many times how it feels to join the 130mph club and, whilst it’s a satisfying achievement, it was never my aim and I’m sure things will get even faster as the week progresses if these good conditions stay with us.”

Kate Rock, communications specialist for Dunlop, was delighted that the company’s dedication to the sport and these riders particularly has paid off: “The Dunlop Motorsport team have worked closely with John and Steve over the past year to produce tyres that would give them the feedback that they required. Our Birmingham based team have seen great success on their tyres so far this week and are assessing riding through out the all of the races to enable them to achieve the best results across all of the races.”