Magic Man

Magic Man

Joey Dunlop, Lord of the Mountain

TO CALL JOEY DUNLOP A TT legend would be like calling the Grand Canyon a big hole in the ground. Undeniably true, but a long way short of the real scale and breadth of the subject matter.

Dunlop is possibly the greatest true roadracer who ever lived. The man has won 26 TT races, adding a hat-trick this year. He has more Irish street-racing honors than Emelda Marcos had high-heeled sling-backs. Currently 48 years old, married for 28 of them, he has been awarded the OBE by the British Queen, has fathered five children, runs a pub in his native Ballymoney, Northern Ireland (hence his British passport), and has only recently cut out heavy smoking in the interests of fitness-possibly his greatest achievement, in some strange left-field kinda way.

Diplomatically speaking, the man likes his drink, usually right after he’s finished another TT. He dislikes being thought of as a star, and although unerringly polite and usually cheerful to the public and press, he is frequently unintelligible to those outside his native land or so brief with his comments as to be unwittingly entertaining.

Never versed in PR-bullshit to give it its proper title-Joey says little and does lots. Like fill his race van with life’s necessities and drive them from his home in Ulster to places like Bosnia on single-handed relief missions for needy children. That, if nothing else, is a true measure of the man. In all things, he’s an amazing character.

The tales revolving around him are legendary, and in point of fact, most of them are true. Such as the fact that he used to transport Honda’s priceless factory bikes from his home workshop to the TT on a fishing boat hired from an enterprising local. That is until the boat sank in Belfast Lough, nearly killing Joey, his brother Robert and assorted fellow travelers. No problem to the Brothers Dunlop, who clambered off the rocks that simultaneously sank and then saved them, had the bikes brought up, stripped down to every last nut and bolt (by themselves), washed in petrol (by themselves), rebuilt (you guessed it) and just went on racing. And no doubt nipped down to the local shops on them once he got home to Ulster, as he is oft reported as doing.

This year, Joey Dunlop clicked back the odometer of time and rattled off three more TT wins. The Formula One (for tuned Superbikes-like they’re not fast enough for the TT in standard trim...), the Lightweight (250GP machines) and the Ultra Lightweight (125GP), making him the most successful TT rider in history. Again. Which he was already of course, just like he’s been for years anyway.

So what if Joey’s latest successes have come because there is not the same great depth of competition like there used to be? The man is walking proof that some old dogs know all the new tricks already, and if one race circuit in the world rewards track knowledge, a wise old head and, of course, the sheer balls to put thoughts into throttle action, it is the Mountain Course.

For all those who have watched Dunlop smoothly and rapidly navigate the TT like the master he is, reassure yourself that if, like me, you weren’t fortunate enough to catch Ago, Hailwood, Surtees or Duke when they did their TT tangos, you have still witnessed one of the all-time greats at work. Not to mention a piece of living history. -Gordon Ritchie