Hawk Racing and Michael Dunlop were denied a potential seventh Isle of Man TT win together in the final race of this year’s event.

The Northern Irishman had already made history earlier in the week by surpassing the all-time number of individual TT race wins, moving to 29 in total including his six with Hawk.

Saturday’s Milwaukee Senior TT saw him return to the MasterMac Honda on which he had set a new record time around the 37-mile course the previous weekend, with the team and rider determined to win the blue riband race.

However, our hopes of victory were dashed early on when the bike suffered a mechanical failure on the opening lap and Dunlop was forced to retire.

Steve Hicken, team manager, said:

“It’s a really tough break after spending two weeks on the island working hard to prepare a bike Michael could win on.

“Mechanical issues happen at times, and the problem wasn’t one anyone could have foreseen, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing.

“We knew from the Superbike TT the previous weekend we had the pace to win and it would’ve been the perfect end to the meeting for Michael and for us.

“The whole team would like to congratulate Michael on his successes in other classes through the week and over the years, including with Hawk Racing. It’s a source of great pride that we’re a part of his story.”

Hawk will be back in action next weekend as MasterMac Honda’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship campaign resumes at Knockhill in Scotland.

‍