His story is one of tenacity against all the odds. His struggle to emerge as a star in his own right and not just as the younger brother of a road racing legend, took years, demonstrating the skill and courage that established him at the top of the sport by 1994.

Robert Dunlop was quite simply one of the bravest sportsmen this island has ever produced.

The first step on the road to success came with a win in the 1983 Manx Grand Prix, Newcomers Junior race. Dunlop headed home an illustrious top three that included Steve Hislop and Ian Lougher to claim one of the few trophies that did not already carry the Dunlop name etched into it’s roll call of previous winners. His first North West 200 win in 1986 was followed in the years ahead by TT and Ulster Grand Prix success, a British 125cc title, and a berth in the JPS works Norton team.

But the glory days came at a high price. A crash at the 13th Milestone during the 1986 TT resulted in a catalogue of injuries that included a punctured lung, broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, cheek and jaw. A major off at Monza in 1992 was followed the following year by another TT prang in practice at Waterworks. The accident in the 1994, exiting Ballaugh village during the Formula One race robbed Dunlop of the chance to move onto the World stage as a Superbike rider. It very nearly cost him his life.

There are those who suggest that Robert Dunlop’s true vocation was as a 125cc rider, and that if he had concentrated on the class, a career in Grands Prix would surely have lay ahead.

Text extracts from a profile of Robert Dunlop featured in the Appletree Press title: The Power and the Glory: The History of the North West 200 by Alastair McCook.