Legendary road racer Michael Dunlop has joined forces with a Cumbrian team for this year’s Isle of Man TT.

It has been confirmed that multiple champion Dunlop will race one of Paul Bird Motorsport’s Ducati Panigale V4 RRs at the 2022 International North West 200 and Isle of Man TT races.

It follows an agreement between the 32-year-old and the Cumbrian motorsport organisation which had originally been struck in 2020, only for plans to be postponed because of Covid-19.

Dunlop will race in both the Superbike and Senior races at this year’s Isle of Man festival, which runs from May 28 to June 11.

Dunlop, from County Antrim, is a 19-time TT winner and, while he will race his own machines in the Supersport and Superstock events, will ride for PBM in the two main races on the island.

John Mowatt, team co-ordinator, said: “We are delighted to be able to fulfil our promise and commitment to Michael albeit two years later than we had hoped.

“We are thrilled to be contesting the major road races with Michael onboard the PBM Ducati and are hopeful of adding to both his and our considerable list of successes.”

The last time the Penrith-based team contested the Isle of Man TT was in 2015 when Ian Hutchinson scored a second in the Superbike TT and a third in the Senior TT, as well as winning the Superstock TT race, all aboard PBM Kawasakis.

That marked the team’s first major foray onto the Isle of Man for 12 years.

That success came after PBM previously contested the event with Ducati in 2003, when John McGuinness took second in the TT Formula 1 race and third in the Senior TT riding the MonsterMob-sponsored bikes.

Before that, Joey Dunlop – Michael’s uncle - famously won his last big bike TT for Paul Bird when he took victory in the 2000 TT Formula 1 race onboard a Demon Vimto Honda SP1, just a month before he was tragically killed in a race in Estonia.

PBM and Michael Dunlop have worked together before when they prepared a Kawasaki ZX-10R for him to win the 2011 Superstock TT.

Ducati’s current quickest lap at the TT is 128.717mph by Michael Rutter in 2011.

Michael Dunlop will also race the PBM-prepared Ducati at the 2022 International North West 200 in Northern Ireland during the week starting Monday, May 8.