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Joey Dunlop – Road Racer 1977

Submitted by on November 3, 20097 Comments

I stumbled across this incredible series of videos, featuring the legendary Joey Dunlop, shot back in 1977.

The first video of Road Racer kicks of with Dunlop testing his Yamaha on public streets at dusk and then staying up in his garage until 3am in an attempt to get his bike sorted!

In the second video Joey is preparing for the Isle of Man and is robbed of a race win by a broken clutch cable at the Kirkstone circuit.

In the final video he talks about the incredible nerves he feels as he lines up on the grid before a race. His honesty is so refreshing, no wonder he was so loved by the fans.

Remembered as the world’s greatest ever road racer, Joey’s record at the Isle of Man is incredible.

I cant write it any better than it appears on the official Isle of Man TT website……

“‘King of the Road’ Joey Dunlop OBE MBE first saw the course in 1976 as he set off for his first practice – he went home with two replicas. The first of his record breaking 26 wins came in the 1977 Jubilee Classic Race. He won the TT Formula 1 Race six years in a row between 1983 and 1988 and was Formula 1 World Champion five times. He is the only rider to have three hat-tricks to his name – 1985 F1, Senior and Junior, 1988 F1, Senior and Junior and in 2000 the Formula One, Lightweight and Ultra Lightweight. He has lapped the course at over 110 mph in races 256 times and has more 120mph plus laps to his credit than any other rider in the history of the races. He started in 100 races on the TT course, 98 TT and two Classic MGP Junior Races. His astounding record of successes speak for themselves. Altogether Joey’s 26 TT wins include 7 Formula 1, 4 Senior, 3 Junior, 5 Lightweight and 5 UltraLightweight Races, plus the 1977 Jubilee Race and the 1980 Classic 1000. During TT2000, at the age of 48, Joey counted the magnificent win in the Duke Formula One as one of his most rewarding. In his final lap of the TT circuit – the sixth lap of the Senior Race – he set his fastest ever lap at 123.87mph to become joint fourth fastest man around the course.

Joey was killed in a racing accident in Estonia in July 2000 and the world mourned the passing of one of the greatest motorcycling legends of all time. He will be remembered for his skill and determination to win, his humility and kindness, and his warmth and sense of fun. The flash of that famous yellow helmet as he raced by is gone but the legend of Joey Dunlop will live forever.”

Images: Iomtt.com

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  • Speed54

    Superbly shot and edited, this film is a wonderful tribute to Joey and his early career. Great stuff for a man whose legend will always live on.

  • Don Cox

    The Joey Dunlop segments come from a circa 1977 TV documentary on Irish road racers from one town. I saw it in 1984 in the Isle of Man. The owner of the Douglas dock-side B&B where I stayed had it on tape. Even by IoM racing standards it was jaw dropping. The opening with guys testing their Yamaha TZ racers down country lanes and the race meeting where 50 bikes start three abreast on a road three metres wide stood out. Two or three of the men featured in the film where gone by that stage. Frank Kennedy died in 1979, in the accident that also ended the career of Kevin Stowe and Warren Willing. Stowe was “touring” on one side of the road. Kennedy pulled out of Willing’s slipstream to pass and ran into the rear of Stowe’s machine. The debris stuck Willing and shattered his left leg. I recall from the doco that Kennedy was considering quitting racing to concentrate on his business. But being a racer defined his identity in the town

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  • Al Glynn

    “In the final video he talks about the incredible nerves he feels as he lines up on the grid before a race. His honesty is so refreshing, no wonder he was so loved by the fans.”
    Nah, thats Robo speaking, not Joey. Mervyn was back racing after a layoff due to concussion and was talking about his nerves on his comeback race.

  • Ray Fowler

    Wonderful memories of a wonderful character. I discovered a Joey 125 Honda at an auto/bike museum in the Lakes District UK last year. It was, as shown in the video, an example of the ‘real’ racing machine with bits made in a rush and without the sanitary factory precision jewellery that is the machine of today. This is not to take anything away from today’s racers – just a comment of how men like Joey became our heros because we can understand the devotion, the skill and commitment of that early era. Priceless.

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  • J

    Wikipedia says Dunlop hated this movie – any idea why? Or is that assessment incorrect?