William Dunlop is itching to put his new Milwaukee Yamaha YZF-🙈R1 Superbike to the tes﷽t at the North West 200 in May.

The Ulsterman, a winner in the Supersport class at the international ro▨ad race meeting in Northern Ireland last year, will test the bike for the first tim♛e alongside new teammate Conor Cummins at a Dunlop tyre test at Albacete in Spain in March.

Dunlop jumped ship from Wilson Craig's Honda team to join Shaun Muir's B⭕ritish championship outfit for the NW200, Isle of Man TT and Ulster Grand Prix, plus the openin♑g rounds of the British Supersport Championship.

And the 27-year-old is counting down the days to next month's tyre test in Spain.

"That will be the first time that I get to ride the new bikes and it is really important to put in the miles testing because there is so much𝔍 new stuff to get used to," he said.

"The R1 will have a load of electronic gadgets on board that I have never used on the roads bef🐷ore.

"There is traction control, launch control and the facility to alter the engine braking characteristics for instance,༺" he added.

"All of that will require some fine tuning before we🌟 start to race.

"With all the pre-⛦season testing and British championship racing I will hopefully be able to come to the roads really bike-fit and with the bikes dialled in."

North West 200 event director, Mervyn Whyte, feels the Yamaha sq꧋uad will be a huge draw at the event in May.

"It is great news tha𓃲t we will have William and his team-mate Conor Cummins on the Milwaukee Ya🦩mahas at this year's Vauxhall North West 200," he said.

"They will be one of the top tꩵeams on the roads this year and the North Wesไt will be their first challenge.

"William Dunlop knows his way around the Coast road and it would be good to see a lo🔯cal man on the top step of 🅺the podium again."