Joey Dunlop: Stamp honour for Isle of Man TT legend

Joey Dunlop won 26 Isle of Man TT races in between 1977 and 2000

The most successful TT rider of all, Joey Dunlop, has been recognised with a stamp issue by Isle of Man Post.

The 48-year-old, who died in a racing accident in Estonia in July 2000, won a record 26 TT races on the Isle of Man's Mountain Course.

He completed a hat-trick of wins in the 2000 TT event - Formula One, 125cc and 250cc - less than a month before his tragic death in Tallinn.

The issue is a collaboration with the Joey Dunlop Foundation.

This year's event marks the 30th anniversary of the Ballymoney racer's first TT win on Honda machinery, having made his debut a year earlier.

He won the TT Formula 1 Race six years in a row between 1983 and 1988 and was TT Formula 1 World Champion five times.

The Joey Dunlop Foundation, an Isle of Man-based charity established in 2001, creates specialist accommodation to open up the Isle of Man to visitors with a disability.

Braddan Bridge House, located on the TT course, hosts apartments available for the needs of all disabled guests and allows them to experience the beauty of the island and the excitement of the TT races.

The facility was formally opened on the 6 June 2010 by Joey's wife Linda accompanied by 19-time TT winner John McGuinness.

Members from the Foundation will be at the TT Grandstand to promote the stamps during the TT fortnight which starts on Saturday.

The stamps feature several landmark achievements from the Northern Irish racer's career with Honda.

A stamp issue has also been released to celebrate the career of the island's multiple world road racing champion Geoff Duke.

The 90-year-old dominated motorcycle racing in the 1950s, winning six world championships and six Isle of Man TT races.