Michael Dunlop broke the news himself on Saturday that he is to ride one of Paul Bird Motorsport’s formidable V4 Ducatis in the TT this June.

The 19-time winner rode the factory-supported machine for the first time in the following morning’s official BSB test at Jerez in Spain.

Josh Brookes will ride the VisionTrack-sponsored Ducati in the British Superbike Championship, but Dunlop will take over the reins for the North West 200 in mid-May.

He will then use the potent V4 for both the Superbike and Senior TT.

Dunlop will ride his own MD Racing machines in the Supersport and Superstock events.

The last time the Penrith-based team contested the TT was in 2015 when Ian Hutchinson finished runner-up in the Superbike and third in the Senior, as well as winning the Superstock race, all aboard PBM Kawasakis. He beat Dunlop into second-place in the latter event.

That marked the team’s first major foray into the TT for 12 years.

Bird’s team previously contested the event with a Ducati v-twin in 2003 when John McGuinness finished second in the Formula One race and third in the Senior on the MonsterMob-sponsored bikes. Both races were won by Adrian Archibald on TAS Suzukis.

The only time a Ducati has won a big bike race at the TT was back in 1978 when Mike Hailwood famously won the FI in his comeback.

Joey Dunlop - Michael’s late uncle - won his last big bike TT for Paul Bird when he took victory in the 2000 TT Formula 1 race on the Vimto Honda SP1 twin.

PBM and Michael have worked together before when the team 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.

The 30-year-old from Ballymoney didn’t enjoy the best of TTs in 2019. Dunlop struggled with a wrist injury sustained during testing prior to the North West 200, but came away from the TT with top-six finishes in the Superbike, Senior, Superstock and both Supersport events.

He won the Lightweight TT to add to his tally as the third most successful rider round the Mountain Course.

Dunlop was then involved in a car crash at the Donegal Rally, where he sustained serious injuries, compounded by a nasty high-side crash at the Southern 100 in July.