Michael Dunlop has still not said whether he will start the Senior Superbike TT at Tt 2026 on a Ducati or a Honda, leaving the class that often shapes the entire meeting without a confirmed answer. The 37-year-old has moved between both brands in recent weeks, but the final call for the Isle of Man TT, set for May 25 to June 6, remains open.
Dunlop’s latest switch began in April, when he announced he was moving to the Ducati Panigale V4 R and then tested the bike in WSBK specification at the British Superbike test at Oulton Park. He later described the change with a post that said, “Our little V2 was getting lonely, so we went and got her a best mate, the V4 RS!”
The uncertainty matters because Dunlop’s Superbike choice is the central question hanging over the event. He has already shown how much can change from one meeting to the next. At Cookstown 100, he rode his MD Racing BMW, won all three Superbike races and set a new lap record. One day before the North West 200 training start, he said the Ducati needed more development work, and that view was reflected at the road races themselves when he used a Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade prepared by Hawk Racing in the Superbike class.
That Honda brought mixed results. Dunlop finished third in the first NW200 Superbike race behind Glenn Irwin and Dean Harrison, then retired from the second race. Even so, he stayed busy elsewhere at the meeting, winning the Supersport race on a Ducati Panigale V2 that has already become one of his strongest packages.
MD Racing then underlined how unsettled the Superbike picture remains. In a Facebook statement, the team said: “With this new full WSBK Ducati V4R version having just arrived to the team at very late notice, we feel it is appropriate for the team to continue testing over the coming weeks and develop the bike further.” That leaves open whether the machine that arrived late enough to require more testing will be the one Dunlop trusts for the Senior Superbike TT.
What is already fixed is the rest of his TT line-up. Dunlop will ride an MD Racing BMW M1000RR in Superstock, where he had taken five consecutive TT podiums on the same machine, and he will return to the Ducati Panigale V2 in Supersport after winning both 2025 TT Supersport races on it. He is also set to race a Paton in Sportbike. For readers tracking the wider changes around the meeting, the sidecars shake-up is unfolding too, with the biggest power shift since 1990 detailed in Isle Of Man Tt 2026 sidecars face biggest power shake-up since 1990.
The backdrop is familiar. Dunlop is described as the most successful rider in Tourist Trophy history, and whenever he changes machinery, the paddock takes notice. This time the stakes are sharper because the Senior Superbike TT is where the meeting’s biggest unanswered question now sits: whether Dunlop bets on a Ducati still being developed, or goes back to a Honda that has already taken him through recent road-race miles. His choice will tell the story of how he sees Tt 2026 before a single race lap is completed.
