Dunlop brothers to share MV Agusta in Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy Revival classic

Brothers Michael and William Dunlop, whose uncle Joey and father Robert were household names in Ireland and the wider motorsport community, will share an MV Agusta 500/3 in the annual two-part bike event named in honour of Britain’s most recent 500cc World Champion, two-time title winner Barry Sheene.

Michael, who won two TTs for Suzuki this season to take his Isle of Man tally to 15, is returning to the Revival after finishing seventh on a Manx Norton with Michael Hose in his debut at last year’s retrospective.

Elder brother William, who’s taken several podium finishes on the Isle of Man, will be making his Revival debut on the Black Eagle Racing Team machine.

Both Dunlops took part in the Dunlop Dynasty celebration at the recent Festival of Speed, riding their TT bikes and the distinctive rotary-engined Norton made famous by their father Robert.

The 2017 Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, with an aggregate result declared after the second heat on Sunday, will again feature fabulous period machinery from Aermacchi, AJS, BMW, Matchless, MV Agusta and Norton – complete with pro-am rider line-ups in Revival tradition.

Top two-wheeled names already confirmed to take on the Dunlops include three-time World Champion and Goodwood favourite ‘Fast Freddie’ Spencer and former Suzuki Grand Prix rider, and team-mate to Barry Sheene, Steve Parrish – both on Manx Nortons – as well as the two fastest women around the Isle of Man TT course, Maria Costello and Jenny Tinmouth. Maria saddles a 1954 BMW RS54, while Tinmouth, who holds the ladies’ TT lap record at a whisker under 120mph, will compete on a Hansen Honda CR450.

As usual, expect the leather-clad heroes to have throttles pinned and elbows out around the Motor Circuit as they jostle for position in what’s always a hugely entertaining part of the Revival Meeting.

Photography by James Lynch