TT legend Michael Dunlop back in BSB paddock to debut ABM GP2 contender

Michael Dunlop will ride a third different motorcycle in four events after being tapped to give the new ABM GP2 R chassis its competition debut ahead of its introduction for the 2022 British GP2 Championship.

The road racing legend - who sits third on the all-time winners list for the Isle of Man TT with 19 victories to his name - has been busy in recent weeks after riding the Dynavolt Triumph in the British Supersport Championship at Silverstone before moving on to Buildbase Suzuki in the BSB class at Oulton Park.

He will be back in the paddock for the 2021 finale at Brands Hatch riding the Associated British Motorcycles’ new GP2 chassis - built to the specifications of the Moto2 World Championship - which will debut fully in 2022.

The new ABM GP2 R is fitted with the Triumph-sourced 765cc triple-cylinder as ABM looks to provide another homegrown rival to the likes of Spirit, Chassis Factory and Harris, plus the German-manufactured Kalex leading the 2021 ranks with RS Racing’s Charlie Nesbitt.

“The Supersport class has always provided great fun and excitement at all levels of racing and the introduction of GP2 machinery is a positive step in the right direction. 

“I’m looking forward to riding the bike for the boys at the weekend and the aim is to provide some positive feedback for its continued development. I’m sure I can have a bit of fun in the process as Brands Hatch GP is a great circuit to do so on.”  

“This is a unique machine and follows our longstanding desire for a prototype GP2 class in UK racing,” commented ABM’s chief engineer Tony Scott.

“[It is] Something that we spearheaded back in 2017 with our development bike ridden by Alastair Seeley. We continued that in 2019 with Mason Law and in 2020 with Charlie Nesbitt and Alastair Seeley. 

“As this class has grown and matured, we’ve developed our plan to sell competitive, cost-effective machines to the privateer GP2 paddock. This is now being realised with our 765cc 2021 GP2R machine, which utilises the same power plant, as used in the World Championship Moto2 class. 

“In the hands of Michael Dunlop, we hope to further develop the package with one of motorcycling’s icons. This project will help showcase the ABM brand and I’m grateful to the BSB organisers for giving the machine time and consideration, and allowing us to pitch it against the existing GP2 bikes.”

British GP2 runs within the British Supersport races but the series adopts their own points’ scoring system. Approximately 8 to 12 entries per race use GP2 machinery.