Amateur footage shows motorcycle racer Michael Dunlop escaping a high-speed tire blowout that sent rubber flying into the audience during a race in Northern Ireland.
A witness at the North West 200, a TT racing event held earlier this month, captured the incident, which shows Dunlop’s rear tire shattering at high speed. Despite the dramatic decrease in rear traction, the rider was able to keep his Hawk Suzuki upright. There were no reported injuries.
Dunlop was one of numerous motorcyclists who had problems with a poor set of tires provided by, ironically, Dunlop. There is no connection between the firm and the cyclist.
Shortly after Michael Dunlop’s tragedy, Dunlop, the tire manufacturer, announced that it will remove its tires, and therefore any competitors using its rubber, from the race.
“…at the end of the first Superbike race, there was a problem with the tires used by Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman and Brian McCormack,” a Dunlop spokesperson told News Letter.
“But on safety grounds, we just had to make the decision to pull the riders out of the final Superbike race…I got in touch with our technical development guys over at the factory and it was essentially a bad batch of tires,” the spokesperson added.
Dunlop has ensured riders that the issue has been corrected, and will not affect tires supplied for the upcoming Isle of Man TT, happening May 28 – June 11.
