Michael Dunlop announces 2014 plans with BMW

Dunlop will not be taking a year out, the rumours were true all along...

SEVEN-time TT winner Michael Dunlop has officially confirmed he will be riding a BMW S1000RR at the Isle of Man TT as well as other international road races. 

The 24-year-old has come to an agreement with BMW Motorrad UK and Stuart Hicken's Hawk Racing, who run the Buildbase BMW BSB team, as they join forces for the 2014 road racing programme. BMW Motorrad Motorsport support for 2014 has also been secured. 

Michael Dunlop said: “I’m really pleased to have signed for such a strong and competitive team. The BMW S 1000 RR certainly has the speed for the TT and, with my experience, the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and Hawk Racing, I know we have a race-winning package.

"I really thought about sitting out this year, but I have found a team that I am really comfortable with and the support from BMW Motorrad Motorsport will make us a force to be reckoned with this year.”

The team will run the Superstock BMW in Dunlop Racing livery and the Superbike BMWS1000R in BMW Motorsport livery as Dunlop sets out to compete in the Isle of Man TT, North West 200, Ulster Grand Prix and hopefully the Macau Grand Prix.

"We are extremely pleased to have assembled such an experienced racing team," said Hicken, BMW/Hawk Racing Team Principal.

"We have been working on it for a while and I genuinely believe that with Michael, the technical expertise from BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the BMW S 1000 RR, we have secured all the elements we need to be at the sharp end, challenging for a great result at the TT.”

The team are hoping to emulate Georg Meier's historic Senior TT in 1939 where BMW secured their first TT win exactly 75 years ago.