William Dunlop returns home after Senior TT crash

William Dunlop

William Dunlop returned to his hometown of Ballymoney on Saturday, a day after suffering a fractured leg in a high-speed crash during the Senior TT.

The 28-year-old was challenging for a podium position when he fell off at the Graham Memorial section of the course.

"I had been suffering a bit of arm pump all week and I think the extra tension of leading and being in contention for the win made it worse," said William.

"I just ran in with a little bit of throttle still on and the rest well..."

"I could hardly feel the bars, but when you get signal boards saying you are first or second, there's no way you are going to back off."

He added: "It's just the small bone in my leg I've broken and I'm a little battered and bruised but I hope to be ready to ride in four weeks."

Dunlop was airlifted to Noble's Hospital in Douglas after the incident on the Mountain Section, which occurred on the third of the six laps.

He was later released from hospital and was seen wandering around the paddock later in the day.

He led during the early stages of the showpiece Senior event, but had been overtaken by his brother, eventual winner Michael Dunlop, when he came to grief on the Mountain section.

William came away from the TT with a best finish of third in the second Supersport race to equal his best-ever finish on the island.

He will hope to return in time to compete in the Skerries road races at the start of July, which is quickly followed by the Southern 100 on the Billown course in Castletown.