Michael Dunlop will take the rookie BMW S1000RR on which he won three Isle of Man TTs this year to the Ulster Grand Prix in August.

The Ballymoney man will be joined by his brother William at the World Fastest Race as well as a host of other stars including Guy Martin, Gary Johnson, Bruce Anstey, Dan Kneen, Jamie Hamilton and TT hero Peter Hickman.

“This will be all new territory for the BMW. It’s never been round this track before and we’ve been doing plenty of work on all the bikes to have them as ready as we can. We will just have to see how things go, but there’s no reason we can’t get a good result in every class,” said Dunlop.

When asked about the prospect of lap records, Dunlop was keen to play down his chances this year: “There are a lot of factors. It depends on the wind as much as the rain, and while the BMW is a quick bike you just don’t know until the day.”