BY REASON of his all-time record of 21 Isle of Man wins, Joey Dunlop heads up the entry of 629 competitors for the famous TT races, which get underway tomorrow with the Formula One TT and the first of two sidecar races.
Dunlop will ride in five TTs - Formula One, Lightweight (Monday), Ultra-Lightweight (125cc) and Junior (600cc) on Wednesday and the Senior on Friday. Even the usually optimistic veteran must admit that his chances are pretty slim of adding another victory to his record, but a 125cc TT win is possible, and with a little luck he could win two races, especially on a 250cc Honda.
Fellow Ulster riders Phillip McCallum (winner of four races last year), Ricky Mitchell, Adrian Archibald, Denis McCullough, Gary Dynes and Chris Richardson will also be racing for wins, with McCallum fancied for another clean sweep. Michael Rutter, fresh from two wins at the North-West 200, Nick Jefferies and Simon Beck head the English entry, and the leading Scottish riders are lain Duffus, Jim Moodie and Ian Simpson.