Senior TT and 2016 Superbike winner Michael Dunlop signs to join the Suzuki->ke371 team for a number of races starting with the North West race in Northern Ireland, Mr. Dunlop's home turf. From there we'll see him at the Isle of Mann TT -- arguably his home-away-from-home -- where he will go for his 14th win with his new team.

Continue reading for more from Michael Dunlop.

Dunlop/Bennetts Partnership

Mr. Dunlop said, “I was chatting with Steve (Hicken – team manager) for a while, and obviously, we’ve worked together a lot before. With the new bike coming it’s been a bit different and we had to gather up exactly what was happening. We just needed to see what was going to be able to happen and to see where we were both going to be at this time. I know Steve and I know Stuart though, as people, and I know they can take a new bike and get it right. This is a good team and there’s a good link with Yoshimura. It’s going to be interesting this year. I’ve been helping the team build my own bikes and it’ll be good to have a run around at Mallory for a shakedown before we go to Spain.”

Bennetts Suzuki Team Manager Steve Hicken added: “We’ve known Michael for a long time and always wanted to work with him again this year, so we’re really pleased we’ve been able to put a deal together. We’ve made good progress already with the development of the new GSX-R->ke20881000, and we know the potential is there with the bike. With a proven winner like Michael onboard, there’s no reason we can’t be winning races right away. That’s got to be the aim.”

So you see, this new partnership is already aiming for the top, which I suppose is to be expected. After all, we do like our racers and fighter pilots to be bold, impetuous and supremely confident. Best of luck to Michael and Bennetts Suzuki in the coming season. We'll be watching. No pressure...