You would need to have been living under a rock this past five or six days not to have seen, heard or been informed on the recent developments surrounding 11-time TT winner Michael Dunlop and his reported split from BMW for 2015.

Michael announced at the Ballymoney Sports Awards that he would not be continuing with the German manufacturer, following a conversation with the leading manufacturer's top brass last week.

Where the prodigiously talented Ballymoney man goes from here is anyone's guess, but having won Isle of Man TT races on a fistful of different machinery this past few years, wherever he decides to lay his hat in 2015 will undoubtedly offer up a winning opportunity.

The grapevine currently has him speaking to World Superbike team Crescent Suzuki about a potential deal to ride GSX-R machinery at next year's event, and up-and-coming BSB team GB-Moto are also reputedly hunting down his signature with the lure of a six figure salary.

Some have even hinted that Dunlop may end up riding in the Mar-Train Yamaha team, following an announcement last week that the Temple based team would run Yamaha UK's official effort in 2015.

But is the BMW door fully shut?

Can the Ballymoney man not run his own team in 2015, which has always suited him best?

Or is there an option for the new official team to take on the hard charging 25-year-old?

No doubt speculation on his 2015 whereabouts will run for quite some time.



By Paul Lindsay
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