SHORT CIRCUIT!
In 1980 Joey Dunlop came very close to turning his back on road racing and focusing on short circuit racing instead: had he not won the Classic TT that year, his entire career might have been very different.
Joey’s brother-in-law, Mervyn Robinson, was killed at the North West 200 in 1980 and there had been further deaths at the Cookstown 100 that year. It was such a dark period that Joey felt road racing was living on borrowed time and that he would be best to turn his back on it. “I can’t see much future for racing on public roads after all the accidents this year,” he admitted ahead of the TT that year. “I’m hoping to get a 500 Suzuki for UK meetings after the TT. If I get a Suzuki, I may concentrate on short circuit racing.”
But there could be no going back after his famous TT win in the 1980 Classic when he used an oversized fuel tank (completely within the rules at the time) to defeat the mighty Honda Britain team of Mick Grant and Ron Haslam. He would, he decided, continue to race on the roads, but would give just as much attention to his short circuit racing. And proof of how good he was came soon after Suzuki signed Joey to help their rider Graeme Crosby win the 1980 TT Formula 1 world championship.
“JOEY WAS SO TALENTED BUT HIS HEART WASN'T REALLY INTO SHORT-CIRCUIT RACING. THAT SAID, HE COULD BEAT ANYONE ON
