Michael Dunlop on the HAWK Racing BMW Superbike during Practice on Monday evening.

Man-on-a-mission Michael Dunlop’s strategy for this year’s Isle of Man TT races is as straightforward as they come, with the Maverick stating matter-of-factly, ‘I’m here to win every race’.

The 11-time winner almost matched Bingley Bullet Ian Hutchinson’s five-in-a-week record in 2013, but was narrowly denied in a blistering Senior race by his then Honda Legends team-mate John McGuinness.

I’m here to win any race I’m in. I’ve done fast laps on the 600, on the Superstock bike and on the Superbike, so I know what I’m capable of - Michael Dunlop

Dunlop, the only rider ever to secure back-to-back four timers at the TT in 2013 and 2014, endured a blip last year as he left the Isle of Man empty-handed.

His well documented split from the Milwaukee Yamaha team and a last-lap crash in the RST Superbike race put him on the back foot and Dunlop is out out to make amends this weekend.

The 27-year-old looked ominously strong on the Hawk Racing BMW at the North West 200 earlier this month, blasting Josh Brookes’ outright lap record on the S1000RR on his way to his second Superbike victory around the Triangle course, where he also clinched the Superbike spoils on BMW machinery in 2014 – weeks before he won all three big bike races at the TT.

The 27-year-old has arrived on the Isle of Man in tip-top shape and is oozing confidence as practice week continues apace, with the clock ticking down to Saturday’s curtain-raising RST Superbike race (11am), which is scheduled over a full six-lap distance around the legendary 37.73-mile course.

Dunlop, who also rides a BMW in the RL360 Quantum Superstock race and a Yamaha R6 in both Monster Energy Supersport races, has a one-track mind when it comes to outlining his TT goals this week, when three more wins would put him level with Mike Hailwood in the hall of fame.

“I’m here to win any race I’m in – I’ve won the Formula 1 race or the Superbike race, whatever you want to call it, and I’ve won the Senior as well,” Dunlop told the News Letter.

“I’ve won every race and in between the first Superbike race on the Saturday and the second one on the Friday, I’ve another two days of racing and I’m not going to be sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

“I’ve done fast laps on the 600, on the Superstock bike and on the Superbike, so I know what I’m capable of and it’s a matter of making the right plan this year,” added the Ballymoney man.

“I want to keep adding to my tally around here.”

Dunlop made his debut at the Mecca of motorcycle road racing in 2007 and is entering his ninth year of racing around the most challenging road racing course in the world, yet the Ulster rider says he is always able to learn something new.

“You can always make small improvements here and there. You can’t take anything for granted at the TT and it’s a long way round, so you can always learn something, but I’d like to think I know whether to turn left or right when I get to the end of a road,” said Dunlop, who will race with the No.6 plate, which was his allocated number when he won four races each year in 2013 and 2014 – an omen perhaps?

“I’m okay with number six and I’ll go wherever they want me, we’ll just keep our head down and it makes no difference to me,” he said.

Dunlop salvaged a battling second place in the Superstock race last year and became the second fastest rider in history with a searing lap of 132.515mph, which he set on his way to fifth place in the Senior: it was his final act at the end of a tumultuous fortnight for the Northern Ireland star, a statement that roared defiantly, ‘I’ll be back’.

Reflecting on his eleventh hour switch to BMW machinery at the TT last year with Stuart and Steve Hicken’s Hawk Racing team, Dunlop said: “The bike we had the year before in 2014 was on Ohlins suspension, with a factory engine and factory chassis, whereas the bike I got from Stuart last year was running on Bitubo suspension with the engine built by Stuart and a different chassis.

“The bike was a lot different and you might as well have been getting onto a completely new motorbike.

“We just had to go out and race and even in the first race during the pit-stops the boys were clicking away at the back shock to try and tweak the setting,” he added.

“We lost 25 seconds in the pits but on the road I was 20 seconds back from Bruce [Anstey], so theoretically we could’ve been leading the race.

“Then I was in the wrong place on the wrong piece of the road at the wrong time and ended up going down.

“These things happen and we live and learn and move on.”

Dunlop set the second fastest time during opening Superbike practice on Monday evening with a lap of 129.670mph, which he achieved from a standing start.

Ian Hutchinson topped the charts on the Tyco BMM with a lap of 129.964mph.

Kyle White