A strong Irish contingent descends on the Isle of Man this year, seeking to emulate some of the success enjoyed by TT riders from the Emerald Isle in past years.

Many have been inspired by the amazing feats of the late, great Joey Dunlop who attained legendary status by accumulating with style a record 26 wins.

Another rider from Northern Ireland, Phillip McCallen, is equal third on the all-time winners list with 11 wins while Stanley Woods is close behind on ten.

Seeking to build on their legacy will be Adrian Archibald, who, like Joey, rides for Honda Britain and comes from Ballymoney in County Antrim.

Archibald scored his first international public road race successes at the Ulster Grand Prix last year and currently holds the lap record for the Junior 600 class on the Isle of Man at 121.69mph.

He will be hungry for success after being pipped by half a wheel by Iain Duffus in the main North West 200 race in May.

"There is a great tradition of racing on roads in Ireland and the Isle of Man is a huge event for all those who travel to take part.

"I have a good team behind me and would love to score my first Island success.

"There is a lot of tough opposition to overcome though so we will just have to wait and see how it goes."

Front runners

Other top Irish contenders on the Island will be Richard Britton from County Fermanagh and Ryan Farquhar from County Tyrone.

Britton, a winner in the Production race at the North West 200 in 2000, will ride Suzukis in all the main races including the Formula One and Senior TTs.

Both Britton and Farquhar have shown good form in the public road races staged in Ireland early in the season.

Farquhar won the Senior Manx Grand Prix on his Mountain Course debut in 2000 and hopes to get in among the front runners this year.

Meanwhile Robert Dunlop, brother of the late Joey, will attempt to record a sixth TT victory.

He will campaign a 125cc Honda in the Ultra Lightweight class in which his main contender should be Ian Lougher.

Brian Gardiner, Adrian McFarland and John Donnan are also part of the Irish invasion and should challenge for leaderboard positions.