By David Hunter
William Dunlop's revealed more about his reasons for withdrawing from the Isle of Man TT.
The Ballymoney man blamed personal reasons at the time, but now says things are looking much better with his wife's pregnancy.
He'll sit down with partners and sponsors to discuss his future as he takes a few weeks to recover from injury.
A statement on Dunlop's website reads:
"I just thought I would put a few words down about my recent withdrawal from 2018 TT races as I have a lot of good people around me and I felt this is something that needed addressed.
First and foremost, I would like to thank all my sponsors, not one of them made me feel like I had to do anything I didn’t want to nor did they ask my issues – it’s good to have people helping me like this and it’s much appreciated.
Also a big thanks to everyone for their kind messages, I really can’t believe the support people have given me."
The Co.Antrim rider explained how his wife, Janine, was expecting their second baby and had recieved 'terrible news' at the 20 week scan.
"While I was on the island Janine had to deal with everything herself and was attending the hospital appointments and scans herself while I was away.
"My head wasn’t in the races and my thoughts were always at what was happening at home. My family will always come first so I made the decision to come home.
"We received positive news this weekend and everything is now appearing to be normal so after months of uncertainty we now finally feel that we can enjoy this time and get excited for a new addition."
Dunlop said there would still be additional scans and meetings with consultants in the weeks ahead but that things were looking 'much better'.
He continued: "I have a few weeks to rest my body and recover from NW200 crash and also think about my future, I will sit with my sponsors in time and see where we all stand."