Michael Dunlop is the biggest name in road racing - so when he turns up to an event, there is obviously a lot of attention surrounding him.

Fans will wait patiently outside of his awning tents to get a glimpse of the most successful rider in Isle of Man TT history, but their attention is rarely focused on the people around him, who help make it all tick along like clockwork at each road race.

I decided to take a walk up to Dunlop's awning set-up within the North West 200 paddock earlier this month during the main Saturday race programme. Crowds of people stood observing his MD Racing crew making changes to his BMW Superstock machine, and the Hawk Racing mechanics working intensely to get the best electronics setting for Dunlop's Honda Superbike.

It's been a successful day, another Supersport win added to his tally at the Triangle circuit. The bike I'm looking at has the winner's laurel wreath draped around the fly-splattered screen as it sits proudly in the tent. The machine in question is a Ducati V2 - a new generation Supersport bike on which Dunlop has already taken four international road racing wins, including the first Ducati victories at the Isle of Man TT for 30 years in 2025.

While racing continues and the sound of Supertwin bikes screams along the Portstewart coastline, Scars Racing - the team that runs the Ducati in partnership with Dunlop - is packing up for the day as it readies itself to get back into short circuit mode at Donington with British Supersport rider, Luke Stapleford, who is currently leading the series after two rounds.

"I'll be with you in two minutes," is what team co-owner Leigh Finlay says to me as I stand watching him and a few of his team try to load a massive toolbox into the side of a van. Toolbox loaded in (just), we walk into the awning and stand at each side of the history-making Ducati and begin our chat about how the partnership with the TT's greatest ever rider started.

"It came at a time when Michael was looking for something else, and the Ducati was showing its potential," says Finlay. "So there were a few calls made between myself, Michael and Dale McElveen [Scars Racing team co-owner] and it all fell into place, basically. It was something that both parties wanted: we wanted Michael on our bike and he wanted to ride it."

The Ducati V2 was originally run through TAS Racing, Northern Ireland's most successful team and one that Finlay spent years at. It was backed by Milwaukee UK, which is headed by Dale McElveen and had success with Alastair Seeley and Davey Todd on the roads in 2023 and 2024.

The partnership started off with immediate international success, as Dunlop took victory and a podium at the North West 200 in 2025. The main goal was getting the job done at the Isle of Man TT, but how can preparation at the North West translate, with two very different tests of rider and machine?

"It helps to be fair; I wouldn't say it's a 'test', but it's the same principle for him [Dunlop]," Finlay says. "He knows where he needs to be with the bikes and he knows what he wants to do.

"Bike set-up-wise, we probably run a different suspension link here [NW200] and different parts of the bike that you can't run at the TT. Purely because it's a different style of circuit, the undulations and the bumps just make it so unique compared to the North West, as its so flat. You almost can get away with a more BSB [circuit racing] set-up."

The key takeaway for set-up crossover for the TT is top-speed stability and, with another year of data under the team's belt, Finlay explains how things are constantly being tinkered with to get even more improvement out of a top-spec Ducati V2.

"It's basically all about getting back on the roads and seeing how it reacts with bumps, wind and all the other elements. There are parts on the bike that we used at the TT last year and there are some new bits on there, you just can't stand still and we are constantly trying to give Michael the best bike he can ride."

The collaboration also extends to a close working relationship with Ducati, as the team collaboration gets official support from the Italian brand, and there is a real sense of pride that a team and rider from Northern Ireland has helped put the Borgo Panigale factory back to winning ways at the Isle of Man TT.

Finlay says Scars Racing has a "close relationship" with world championship team, Feel Racing, which won the World Supersport title with Nicolo Bulega and Adrian Huertas in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Dunlop's V2 Panigale even sports the team's logo to show the strength of the partnership, and the bike is pretty much as 'factory' as you can get at world championship level.

"We work quite closely with them, in terms of bike development and settings," Finlay says. "It is a real luxury to have such a good relationship with a factory and use the knowledge that they have to help us."

Though Finlay keeps his cards close to his chest when asked about the 'factory' bits on the Scars bike - "I can't go into a lot of detail!" - he stresses how the small details make the difference with their effort.

"We evaluated last year's bike and looked at what we could improve, especially with this bike coming to the end of its cycle as the new model is currently being tested for release next year," he says.

"So the development in a Ducati sense has stopped, but with us we are constantly just adding bits, we're just trying to make small, incremental changes to make it better."

A key testing method for the North West 200 heading into the TT is that Dunlop's Ducati Supersport was racing with a TT-style fuel tank, one that is a custom built factory part by Ducati and one that certainly isn't cheap. A larger tank is to cope with the mountain course distance over two laps before making a pitstop.

"We actually run it here, a lot of others wouldn't do that," says Finlay. "So we carry more fuel to the North West than we probably need to, but the pay-off is that we are setting it up for the TT and when we turn up on the island, we are ready to go straight from practice."

It didn't seem to hinder Dunlop, as he took victory in the Supersport class at the 2026 North West 200 ahead of Honda Racing's Dean Harrison.

As well as holding the outright win record, Dunlop is the most successful Supersport rider at the Isle of Man TT with 14 victories in the class, which includes the two victories for Ducati taken last year - its first since 1995 with Robert Holden in the singles class. Scars Racing also ran a special gold livery in the second Supersport race in 2025 to celebrate the success.

All roads lead to the TT for Finlay, McElveen and the rest of the Scars Racing team as it tries to emulate its double Supersport success of 2025 with Dunlop once again.

A team from Northern Ireland with the support of Italy's iconic motorcycle brand is a great story and one that Finlay hopes that can be repeated.

"It would be brilliant, it would be a dream come true for us. A team and rider from here to go and do that again, especially as this team collaboration is so new along with Michael, it would be quite the achievement for us, but we will just keep doing what we are doing and we'll do our best…so far, so good!"