The photos we’ve shown here were taken at Manfeild in 1994.

They show one of the world’s greatest motorcycle road racers ever … the late, great Joey Dunlop.

He is the uncle of Michael Dunlop, here in New Zealand to race at the Cemetery Circuit this Boxing Day.

Quietly-spoken Ulsterman Joey Dunlop raced in New Zealand in the 1994-95 season and endeared himself to the Kiwi motorcycling community with his modest, down-to-earth, easy-going nature.

BikesportNZ.com was fortunate to have been able to interview Joey Dunlop back in 1994 … and just as well we taped the interview because his broad Irish accent was very hard to understand.

Also Isle of Man legends, bothers William Dunlop, aged 31 (born 23 July, 1985), and his 28-year-old sibling Michael (born 10 March, 1988) are sons of the late Robert Dunlop, Joey Dunlop’s brother.

But it is Joey Dunlop who most people will probably regard as the greatest Isle of Man legend.

With an astonishing career total of 26 wins at the Isle of Man, Joey Dunlop’s exploits were indeed legendary. He was seemingly indestructible.

Sadly, however, in July 2000, that proved not to be so.

The then 48-year-old Dunlop, MBE and OBE, crashed in extremely wet conditions as he raced a 10km circuit, on public roads in Tallin, the capital city of the former Soviet state of Estonia. He was killed instantly.

Dunlop began his race career in at the age of 17, in 1969. He was a magical performer at the Isle of Man TT event, where he won 26 TT titles, the first in 1977.

Part-time publican of the Railway Tavern in Ballymoney, on the northern coast of Ireland, Dunlop also won five Formula 1 world championships between 1980 and 1988.

He was 30 when he took his first Formula 1 crown from New Zealand’s Graeme Crosby.

If you’re at Whanganui this Boxing Day (on Monday), you’ll be able to see his nephew Michael keeping the family legacy alive.

© Words and photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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