North West mourn joker in the pack

Motorsport

Sorely missed: Robert Dunlop

Michael Dunlop talks to his father Robert on the grid moments before the fatal crash

Michael Dunlop talks to his father Robert on the grid moments before the fatal crash

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VIDEO
• Course Clerk, Mervyn Whyte
• Tributes from fans [1] [2] [3]
• Robert's last interview with BTTV

Inconsolable grief at the Joey Dunlop Memorial Garden in Ballymoney

Inconsolable grief: fans gather at the Joey Dunlop Memorial Garden in Ballymoney to mourn loss of brother Robert

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VIDEO
• Course Clerk, Mervyn Whyte
• Tributes from fans [1] [2] [3]
• Robert's last interview with BTTV

Thousands coming to terms with loss of ever popular Robert Dunlop

Sunday, May 18, 2008

By Jimmy Walker

The North West 200 today will in many ways be like bubble and squeak without the bubble for everyone is still feeling the awful effects of the death of one of motorcycling's greatest experts and competitors Robert Dunlop.

Robert was the rider whom you thought would always be unscathed no matter how serious the accident and when he died in hospital last night after crashing in the 250cc class practice there was a welter of disbelief throughout the many thousands who lined the circuit.

One of the great characters of the meeting, Robert will be sorely missed for he was one of a cavalier breed which you don't see around these days. Everyone takes motorcycling so seriously they walk around with solemn and even sombre faces, but Robert was different. He came from a time when racing had its characters and he was certainly one them.

Tragically his elder brother Joey was killed in Estonia in the year 2000 and many people refused to take that news onboard until it finally sank it. But Joey was different from Robert, he didn't have the rapport with the spectators which Robert had and the "wee man", as he was called, was able to crack jokes with the crowd even as he made last-minute adjustments to his machines.

Robert Dunlop was a man of the people. There's no question about that and in many ways he epitomised the North West 200 itself. Just look at it this way, Robert made his first major breakthrough when winning at the North West in 1986 and from then on in he rose to the heights where he was obviously going to be a super-bike star, probably one of the best ever.

He didn't confine his activities to Irish road races but was a happy wanderer. He wandered as far as Macau in the Far East and won out there - the first Irishman to do so. Although this was later followed by Phillip McCallen it was Robert Dunlop who paved the way in 1989 before McCallen was successful in 1996.

Always a joker, Robert Dunlop could be relied upon for the instant quip and he was a newspaper reporter's dream. Robert soon made up the sort of story which reporters delight in. He didn't believe in the words "no comment" . Robert always had something to say about everything and a lot of his views were suitably controversial.

Robert's only drawback as far as I was concerned was that he just continued to ride for too long. He had his sons Michael and William on the track with him and they were a "terrible trio" in that they monopolised races like the 125cc and 250cc classes. Robert was always there as their mentor but you always got the impression that Robert was there to win for himself and to prove he could still do the job. He told me only this week that if he and his son William were fighting for the lead on the last lap of the North West Robert would make sure that William didn't get past. "He wouldn't have wanted it any other way," he said.

There is an air of deflation among the 60,000-plus fans who will be there today. Many people have come up from early in the week and although Robert Dunlop wasn't one of the major players this year his very name was enough to bring in the crowd. He had an infectious personality which was something you just couldn't ignore and he loved to chat with press people and to provide instant quotes. It's a true saying that when something major happened in a motorcycle event the call went out "bring in Robert Dunlop". He always rose to the occasion.

It's difficult visualising the race without him because he was so much part of the scene and he was delighted to say the least with his 125cc win in 2006 which was the first at the meeting since his major accident in 1994.

He didn't ride a 250cc bike from that date on at the North West but ironically he chose to be onboard this time and sadly he was killed on the bike.

Whether or not it was rider error or machine failure will be known eventually.

As for his sons Michael and William no one knows whether or not they will continue to race but my feeling is that they will.

Dunlop's wife Louise, who was naturally badly shaken up by the crash, told me: "When I was informed by my son Michael to get to the hospital as soon as possible I thought it was just one of Robert's many crashes and that he would be sitting up in bed cracking jokes and looking for one of his rolled up cigarettes. Sadly this was not to be and now the lives of the family are devastated but he left the scene the way he would have wanted for he was never going to retire and Thursday's crash was in many ways bound to happen some time.

"We just have to get over it but things can never be the same."