Joeydunlop

JOEY DUNLOP KING OF THE ROADS

J Stephen Davison was born in 1961 and is a native of Tardree, County Antrim. A graduate in History from Queen’s University, Belfast, he has been a photographer since 1990 and a staff photographer with the Belfast photographic agency Pacemaker Press International since 1994. He has been a fan of Joey Dunlop since first seeing him race in 1975 and it was seeing the pictures of Joey’s achievements in motorcycle publications that inspired him to pick up a camera. Davison has won various photographic awards including the Northern Ireland Sports Photographer and Northern Ireland Press Photographer titles.

JOEY DUNLOP KING OF THE ROADS STEPHEN DAVISON PACEMAKER PRES S IN TERN ATION AL

This edition first published 2018 by The O’Brien Press Ltd, 12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland.

Tel. +353 1 4923333; Fax. +353 1 4922777 E-mail books@obrien.ie Website www.obrien.ie Originally published in 2000 (without new material and revisions) as Joey Dunlop: King of the Roads by The O’Brien Press.

Reprinted 2000 (twice).

Revised in hardback 2010.

First published in paperback in 2015.

The O’Brien Press is a member of Publishing Ireland.

ISBN: 978-178849-042-9 Copyright for text © Stephen Davison Copyright for photographs © Stephen Davison/Pacemaker Press Copyright for editing, typesetting, layout, design © The O’Brien Press Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

13578642 18 20 22 23 21 19 Editing, typesetting, layout, design: The O’Brien Press Ltd. Original layout and design: Designit Photographs: Pacemaker Press International, Belfast Printed and bound by Drukarnia Skleniarz, Poland The paper in this book is produced using pulp from managed forests.

Published in:

Contents Introduction: Unfaded Memory

7

Joey Dunlop, King of the Roads Early Days

13

Getting Ready

25

The Paddock

35

On the Grid

45

The Tiddlers, 125cc Racing

52

The Brothers

59

250cc Racing

66

Changing Faces

74

The Big Bikes

85

Crash! 94 After the Race

98

On the Island

103

Champion 115 The Final Lap

121

The Legacy

150

U Alone with his thoughts, Joey sits on his stone-chipped 250cc Honda on the grid at the Ulster Grand Prix in 1995.

Joey takes a break with his brother-inlaw, Mervyn Robinson, during practice for the Ulster Grand Prix in 1975. Neighbours in the County Antrim village of Armoy, Joey followed Mervyn into racing and they became intense rivals as well as close friends.

Unfaded Memory Unfaded Memory In 2016 an exhibition of Joey Dunlop’s racing bikes and personal

At all three shows the Joey Dunlop exhibits were the most popular

memorabilia was put on display at the London Motorcycle show.

events, attracting tens of thousands visitors in London, Zurich and

Twelve months later a similar exhibit, which also included the

Dublin over a decade and a half after his death. Race fans all over the

artefacts of the whole Dunlop racing dynasty, opened at the Swiss

world, some too young to have ever witnessed his extraordinary skills

motorcycle show. A few weeks later, yet another exhibition relating to

in action on a motorcycle, remain fascinated by the legend who was

Joey’s racing career was put on display at the Irish Motorcycle show.

Joey Dunlop. It is a feeling I know well.

Unfaded Memory 7

With the bike sparkling in the rare Dundrod sunshine, Joey cranks his Yamsel into Tournagrough during the 350cc race at the 1976 Ulster Grand Prix.

Joey’s racing career was just beginning as I was taken through the paddock gate for the first time. A picture of ordinariness, he was an immediate inspiration for a youngster searching for a local hero. Hailing

same pub when the work was finished. Joey was one of us.

And he could do what we could only dream of – he could throw his leg over his race bike to take on the world and beat them all.

from my own county, Joey talked with the same broad accent and

We shared in the thrill of Joey’s skill and cheered every one of his

laboured in the same type of job as other young locals. He drank in the

victories. We were immensely proud that this most ordinary of men

8 JOEY DUNLOP

achieved the most extraordinary feats.

racers from all around the world.

Joey Dunlop’s accomplishments are fully recorded in the history

In a sport where the bravado of youth is a crucial influence,

books of road racing. Five world championships and twenty six Isle

Joey often beat men who were little more than half his age. By the

of Man TT wins stand out from the many dozens of race wins around

Nineties he could still overcome the young pretenders to his crown like

the world. The statistics are impressive and explain why Joey Dunlop

McCallen, Jefferies and his own brother, Robert.

was, and remains, the greatest pure road racer of all time. Many of his

No one who was there will ever forget Joey’s swansong in racing,

records still stand today and will probably never be surpassed, but it

the 2000 Isle of Man TT, when he won his first big bike race on the

was the manner of his wins and the way that Joey Dunlop gently met

Island in ten years. Everyone remembers that his arch rival, David

the world that has been his greatest legacy.

Jefferies, broke down in the Formula One race, but it is seldom remem-

He was also honoured by the conferring of an MBE and an OBE to

bered that the two men standing below Joey on the podium that June

mark his world championship victories and charity work in 1986 and

day were John McGuinness and Michael Rutter. Never more danger-

1996. For road racing fans who had been in awe of his brilliance from

ous than when he was being written off by the pundits, Joey never

the outset and were familiar with his self-effacing character it was no

lost the ability to win at the very highest level throughout his career.

more than he deserved and not a moment too soon.

A fortnight after his TT triumphs Joey was on the road again to a

Not only had Joey reached the highest echelons of motorcycle

small and obscure race in Estonia in Eastern Europe. Very few people

sport, he had stayed there for an unprecedented amount of time. The

knew that he had even left for Estonia and for those who did know it

year of his death, 2000, was the start of his thirty-first season in rac-

was just another of his many road trips. No stranger to the highway,

ing. Many times the faint-hearted thought that he was finished. After

Joey had travelled all over the world on previous racing forays and

the deaths of his close friends Frank Kennedy and Mervyn Robinson,

lone mercy missions in his battered race van. It was unthinkable that

which came at the start of Joey’s career, he questioned his involve-

he would not return from this one, that we would not see him race

ment in the sport; the injuries he sustained in a major crash at Brands

again, but on a rainy July Sunday in a pine forest on the outskirts of

Hatch in 1989 would have forced many a man who had achieved a

Tallin city the unthinkable occurred. With trees lining the very edge of

great deal less to consider retirement. Joey’s strength of mind and

the tarmac, Joey stood no chance when he slid off his 125cc Honda

love of racing drove him on through these and many other setbacks.

on the last corner of the Pirita-Kose-Kloostrimetsa circuit. He was

Nor did he ever race to make up the numbers. His ability to win,

killed instantly.

often against fiercely unequal odds, was perhaps the single thing

Sunday, 2 July 2000 has become a day when everyone remembers

that impressed, and endeared him most to his legions of fans. In the

where they were when they heard the awful news. I was in Casement

Seventies he arrived on the scene to race and beat the established

Park photographing a Gaelic football match and when the news was

stars like Ray McCullough, through the Eighties he was dominant,

broadcast over the ground’s loudspeakers the crowd of over 20,000

beating Crosby, Grant, Gardner, Haslam, Marshall – the best road

people gasped in disbelief as one. That road racing had lost its greatest Unfaded Memory 9

10 JOEY DUNLOP

exponent in a far off place that very few of his fans could even point

races all over the world. The Dunlop name currently stands once again

to on a map made it all the more surreal, all the more unbelievable.

at the pinnacle of the sport as Michael Dunlop takes on the mantle

Even today, Joey’s death still evokes passion and pity. No road race

previously worn by his famous uncle as the world’s leading road racer.

takes place without some mention of his previous appearance at the

The immense popularity of the film, Road, which documents the

meeting, his name will always appear somewhere in the programme

lives of both generations of the Dunlop racing family, has brought their

and spectators on the hedgerows will reminisce about the days when

exploits to a new international audience.

he beat everyone in sight. That he will never be forgotten is a given.

Although everyone knew that Joey could not go on forever, the nature of his passing only weeks after what was perhaps his greatest racing triumph has allowed his legend to live on forever.

Stephen Davison

More tragedy followed for the family with the death of Joey’s brother Robert after a crash in 2008, but the influence of the Dunlop racing dynasty continues to flourish as a new generation follows in Joey and Robert’s wheeltracks.

Joey’s nephews Paul, Sam, William and Michael and his own son, Gary, have all competed successfully between the hedges, winning

Before joining Honda in 1981 and becoming their longest-serving rider, Joey had a brief liaison with the Suzuki firm. He was drafted in to help their Formula One world championship effort at Dundrod in 1980. Joey, racing under team orders to let Graeme Crosby finish in front, stormed into a massive lead at the Ulster Grand Prix before slowing and allowing his team-mate to pass him.

Unfaded Memory 11

12 JOEY DUNLOP

early days One of the earliest known images of Joey Dunlop racing. Joey (106) lines his Ballymoney Transport Yamaha up on the grid for one of his earliest races at Megahaberry circuit in the early seventies. He has not adopted his trademark famous yellow helmet yet.

Joey Dunlop with the other members of the legendary Armoy Armada; Frank Kennedy, Jim Dunlop and Mervyn Robinson. Formed to raise funds for the quartet’s racing efforts in 1977, the Armada was named after the Co. Antrim village the racers called home. Their exploits in unofficial test sessions on the sleepy country lanes around the village were immortalised by David Wallace in The Road Racers, the documentary film he made about the Irish racing scene.

Sadly Kennedy (1979) and Robinson (1980) were both killed at the North West 200 and with Joey’s death in Estonia in 2000, Jim has become the sole surviving member of the famous racing foursome.

early days 13

Shrouded in two-stroke fumes on the grid at the North West 200 in 1977, Joey’s bright yellow Boeri helmet with a strip of black insulating tape down the centre was the first incarnation of a design that became one of the most instantly recognisable in motorcycle racing.

14 JOEY DUNLOP

Already sporting his trademark Number 3, Joey’s face is a picture of concentration as he aviates his 250cc Yamaha over the Temple jumps in 1979.

Standing in front of a mural of Slemish Mountain, Joey seems very happy with his haul of trophies collected at a Mid-Antrim Club prizegiving night in the early Seventies.

Joey is flanked by John Rea and his wife, Bessie, as he sits on the Yamsel 350cc that the Rea brothers bought for him in 1976. John Rea was one of the first sponsors to realise Joey’s potential and along with his brothers, Noel and Martin, began to support Joey by providing him with competitive machinery. The association between the Rea family and the Dunlops continued with both of Joey’s brothers, Jim and Robert, racing this same Yamsel bike in later years.

16 JOEY DUNLOP

Behind every great road racer there is a great sponsor

him with the Isle of Man TT win that marked the true beginning of his top

and John Rea, the owner of a Northern Ireland transport company, was the

flight racing career, the 1980 Classic TT. With some crucial (and crafty)

man behind Joey’s first major successes. Joey achieved his first TT win,

modifications to the bike’s petrol tank to allow him to make only one fuel

the Jubilee Classic victory in 1977, on a Rea Racing Yamaha and in 1979

stop instead of the two that the ‘works’ teams were forced to make, Joey

this Rea 750cc Yamaha carried Joey to his first win at the North West

broke the lap record and finished over 20 seconds ahead of Honda’s Mick

200 and his first Superbike win at the Ulster Grand Prix. It also provided

Grant to claim victory. early days 17

Joey looks every inch a natural factory rider as he negotiates

been for the demands of the team. After building up a 20-second cushion as

Leathemstown bend on the Suzuki Great Britain F1 machine during the 1980

he led from the off, he slowed to let Crosby through to win. But Joey had his

Ulster Grand Prix. Many people think that Joey’s famous ride on this bike

revenge in the Classic race ran later in the day, leading from start to finish

at Dundrod in 1980, when he was drafted in as a teammate to help Graeme

and breaking the outright lap record along the way. His performances that

Crosby win the Formula One world championship, was the first time he had

day at Dundrod brought him to the attention of the major team bosses and

raced for the team. In fact Joey had ridden the bike the previous weekend

ensured that he would be offered top class machinery for the following sea-

at Silverstone, leading the Formula One race at the British Grand Prix event

son. It seemed likely that he would continue to race for Suzuki, but Honda had

before finishing second to Crosby. In the same race at Dundrod Joey had to

also noticed the achievements of the Ballymoney man and they stepped in to

follow team orders and allow Crosby to win to secure the championship, but

secure his services for the 1981 campaign.

only after he had made it obvious that he could have won easily had it not

18 JOEY DUNLOP

Joey is all smiles as he sits on the grid during practice for the 1982 North West 200. His fellow Honda Britain teammate, Wayne Gardner is standing in the background. Having become a full ‘works’ rider for the Honda team in 1981, new commercial opportunities accompanied his elevation to the front ranks and Joey secured his first personal sponsorship deal with Kangol helmets.

early days 19

Davy Wood, Joey’s manager, follows him to the grid at the 1982 Ulster Grand Prix. Davy had already earned Joey’s respect and friendship as a former race rival. A complete bike racing fanatic he was also a marketing and PR man for Imperial Tobacco, a company that supplied most of the backing for Irish racing before the ban on tobacco sponsorship in 2005. Savvy to the opportunities that commercial support might bring in a way that Joey was not, Davy helped secure the Honda contract as well as many other lucrative deals down the years.

20 JOEY DUNLOP

Racing in 120 degree heat through the streets of Villa Real in Portugal, Joey blitzed the opposition on his RVF Honda to help him secure his fifth and final Formula One world championship in 1986.

Joey had made the championship his own since 1982, winning five times in a row on Hondas to become the most successful Irish motorcycle racer of all time. To mark his achievements he was awarded the MBE in the same year.

early days 21