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Sunday, May 31—Superbike TT
Dean Harrison (Honda Racing UK) delivered a commanding performance to win Sunday’s RST Superbike TT at the Isle of Man, leading every lap and claiming his first Superbike TT victory. The win was Harrison’s sixth TT triumph overall, placing him alongside legends Jimmy Guthrie, Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Jim Redman and Chas Birks on the all-time winners list.
Harrison immediately established control of the six-lap race, opening a 4.8-second advantage over Michael Dunlop (MD Racing Honda) at Glen Helen on the opening lap, with Peter Hickman (Monster Energy BMW Motorrad by 8TEN Racing) close behind in third. By the end of lap one, Harrison’s pace—highlighted by a race-fastest lap of 134.892 mph—had increased his lead to 12 seconds.
Dunlop and Hickman spent much of the race locked in a battle for second, frequently separated by less than a second. Hickman briefly moved ahead during the middle stages before pit-stop strategies and changing track positions saw the pair continue to swap time advantages.
At the front, however, Harrison remained untouchable. He steadily increased his lead throughout the race, stretching it beyond 30 seconds after four laps despite Dunlop gaining time during the first pit stop.
A quicker final pit stop helped Hickman secure second place and gradually pull away from Dunlop over the closing laps. Harrison eased slightly in the final stages but still crossed the line 15.5 seconds clear of Hickman, who capped an impressive return from injury with second place. Dunlop completed the podium in third.
Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) finished a comfortable fourth ahead of John McGuinness (Honda Racing UK), while Ian Hutchinson (Team RST BMW) narrowly beat Jamie Coward (Rapid Honda by DriveLife) for sixth. Nathan Harrison, Mike Browne and Paul Jordan completed the top 10, with Jordan recording his first-ever 130 mph TT lap at 130.656 mph on the final circuit.
Friday, May 29
Qualifying 4
Competitors were faced with slightly different weather conditions for Friday’s fourth qualifying session at this year’s Isle of Man TT Races, with the blue sky and sun giving way to cloud around the majority of the Mountain Course, as well as cooler temperatures and increased wind speeds.
But one thing that did remain constant was Dean Harrison being fastest and the Honda Racing rider lapped at an impressive 134.877mph to post the fastest lap of qualifying week so far.
With race day getting ever closer, most riders opted to go out straight away on their Superbikes with Nathan Harrison first away on the H&H Motorcycles Honda followed by Dean Harrison, Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) and Ian Hutchinson (Team RST BMW).
Mike Browne (Boyce Precision Engineering by Russell Racing Honda) was out on his Superstock machine as was Jamie Coward, the Rapid Honda rider back on track with a new engine fitted after problems on Wednesday. Michael Dunlop was another rider who experienced issues on Wednesday, and he went out on the Hawk Racing Honda Superbike.
Brookes seemingly had a few problems over the first few miles, the Australian more than half a minute down on the pace setting Dean Harrison at Glen Helen whilst Hutchinson was seen discarding a tank spacer on the approach to Ballacraine.
Dean Harrison’s opening lap was 133.653mph and he went straight through for another lap, his gap to Peter Hickman (8TEN Racing BMW) 13.7s, the 14-time winner lapping at 131.882mph which put him just over a second ahead of Dunlop (131.710mph). Browne was the quickest of the Superstock runners, the Irish rider posting a speed of 129.647mph which put him ahead of Paul Jordan (128.055mph) and Coward (128.007mph).
Two riders out of luck though were Conor Cummins (Conrod Motorsport BMW) and Dominic Herbertson (KTS Racing BMW), the duo having pulled off the course at Ballacraine and the Railway Inn respectively.
Most of the front runners carried on for a second lap but Dunlop and Nathan Harrison both pulled into the pits to make changes, the latter going back to a harder spring on the suspension after his first lap was slightly compromised due to the changes made since Wednesday.
Wind over the Mountain was clearly having an impact on speeds as all riders were dropping time after Ramsey, riders encountering a head wind along the Mountain Mile, but Dean Harrison’s second lap was 134.877mph with Hickman also setting his best lap of the week at 132.712mph although this was some 16s down on the Honda rider.
Dunlop (131.850mph), John McGuinness (130.903mph), Brookes (130.547mph) and Hutchinson (130.052mph) were also above 130mph on their second lap with Browne remaining the quickest Superstock rider, his second lap slightly quicker than his first at 129.798mph. Strong laps also came in from Marcus Simpson (127.297mph) and Maurizio Bottalico (126.243mph).
Some riders made it out on track for a third lap including Dunlop, continuing on his Superbike, and Hickman, Brookes, Hutchinson and David Johnson on their Superstock machines although Hutchinson made a brief stop at the Bungalow.
Dunlop’s lap of 132.149mph was his quickest of the week, despite being short lapped, with Hickman and Brookes going second and third quickest on the Superstock leaderboard at 129.725mph and 129.186mph respectively.
“The Superbike is feeling better than the Superstock bike, which is unusual,” said Hickman. “The Superstock’s not quite doing what I want it to and it’s not holding the line like I want it to do so I’m missing a few apexes. The changes we made after Wednesday made the bike worse, so we’ll go back the other way for the second session today.”
After a short break, the Supersport/Sportbike session got underway at 12.15pm, Dunlop onboard his Paton whilst other riders out in the Sportbike class included Michael Evans, the Manxman going out on the Flitwick Motorcycles/SMV Sportbike Yamaha after his spill at Greeba Castle on Wednesday, and David Johnson on the Team ILR/Frog Vehicle Developments Paton.
Most of the leading contenders decided to go out first on their Supersport bike instead and Hickman (Swan Racing by PHR Performance Triumph) and Dean Harrison (Honda Racing) were only half a second apart on the 24 miles from the Grandstand to Ramsey. At the end of the lap, Hickman was 2.6s quicker with a lap of 127.215mph compared to Harrison’s 126.899mph, the latter losing a bit of time when he was trying to overtake Dunlop on the drop down the Mountain.
Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing powered by Prosper2 Ducati) had been leading on the road for the latter part of the lap, but he failed to complete it after he lost his chain on the run towards the Creg-ny-Baa whilst Dunlop, as expected, was the quickest Sportbike runner at 123.020mph, Evans second quickest at a solid 118.717mph.
Dunlop switched to the Scars Racing Ducati Supersport machine with Hickman going the other way, rejoining the fray on the Swan Racing by PHR Performance Yamaha Sportbike. Brookes, Coward, Hutchinson and Browne all continued for a second lap on their Supersport mounts and Brookes’ lap of 126.848mph was his quickest ever in the middleweight class.
Dunlop’s lap of 126.366mph put him third quickest on the Supersport leaderboard with Hickman going second quickest in the Sportbike class at 120.803mph, Evans dropping to third but improving his lap speed on his second lap to 119.536mph.
Dunlop saved the best until last though and at the end of the session, he lapped at 128.351mph to reassert himself at the top of the Supersport leaderboard. Jordan, meanwhile, managed to get back to the pits in time to put in one lap on his Sportbike Aprilia with a lap of 120.649mph placing him third on that particular leaderboard behind Dunlop and Hickman.
Qualifying 5
Qualifying for this year’s Isle of Man TT Races concluded on Friday afternoon and it did so in spectacular fashion as Dean Harrison lit up the Mountain Course, the Honda Racing UK rider lapping at 135.484mph on his Superstock machine.
Having topped every qualifying session, Harrison will head into Saturday’s three-lap Superstock race as the clear favourite, especially as his 135mph+ lap was a short lap as the session concluded, rather than a flying lap. His lap puts him almost half a minute quicker than the second fastest Superstock rider, Josh Brookes.
Unlike the morning session, most riders went with their Superstock bike first as they looked to make any last-minute changes to setup ahead of tomorrow’s race, one of the major exceptions being Peter Hickman, the 8TEN Racing rider clearly hoping to make further improvements after his earlier comments that the Superbike BMW M1000RR still needed to be refined.
John McGuinness (Honda Racing UK) was out on his Superstock bike, the team having changed engines on his Superbike in between sessions, but it was Michael Dunlop (MD Racing BMW) who led the field away ahead of Ian Hutchinson (Team RST BMW), Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) and Harrison.
The Honda Racing rider was six seconds quicker than anyone else on the nine-mile run to Glen Helen, with just over a second covering the riders in second to fifth, Dunlop, Hickman, Brookes and Hutchinson. Although Hickman was stringing together a strong lap, being quicker than Harrison from Glen Helen to Ballaugh, he was black flagged at Parliament Square in Ramsey to allow marshals to inspect his BMW.
Harrison wasn’t having any such issues though and the Honda rider built on his advantage throughout the lap, a first lap speed of 133.549mph some 12.6s quicker than Dunlop (131.913mph) with Hutchinson (130.700mph) third quickest on the Superstock times. With Hickman having been forced to stop due to a loose part of the belly pan having to be removed, Brookes topped the early Superbike leaderboard with a lap of 131.834mph.
The second lap saw Harrison really fly around the Mountain Course and despite it being a short lap, as the session came to an end, his speed was a superb 135.484mph, just 1.6s outside his personal best lap set in last year’s first Superstock race. Brookes posted his best lap of the week at 132.220mph with Hutchinson (130.532mph) and Jamie Coward (130.122mph) also above the 130mph mark on their second laps.
Dunlop came in to make changes to his Superstock BMW, getting back on track to put in a second lap slightly quicker than his first at 131.946mph, but Hickman’s session went further awry as, having switched to his Superstock machine, he ran wide at Sulby Bridge and then pulled in immediately afterwards at Ginger Hall clearly not happy with something on the BMW.
Other noteworthy laps in the session came from Smith Racing’s Julian Trummer (127.630mph), WH Racing’s Marcus Simpson (127.334mph), the Milenco by Padgetts Honda of Mitch Rees (126.668mph) and Finland’s Erno Kostamo (125.768mph). Newcomer Gary McCoy’s good week continued as he lapped at 123.370mph.
At 3.15pm, the final qualifying session at TT 2026 got underway with the Supersport and Sportbike machines getting their final chance to refine set-up ahead of Tuesday’s races, Dunlop, Brookes, Hickman, Dominic Herbertson and Michael Evans all out early on their Supersport mounts. Dean Harrison was a notable absentee though, his work for the day done.
Dunlop was quickest on the Scars Racing Ducati to Glen Helen, 2.7s quicker than Hickman (Swan Racing by PHR Performance Triumph) with Coward on the Rapid Honda in third ahead of Brookes (Uggly & Co. Racing Suzuki), Hutchinson (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Ducati) and Evans (Dafabet Triumph).
Dunlop stretched his advantage through every sector with an opening lap of 128.719mph further cementing his status as the hot favourite for Supersport honours. The 33-time winner immediately pulled in, and it was Hickman (127.301mph) who was second fastest, 11.7s down on Dunlop with Brookes (125.556mph), Coward (125.357mph), Hutchinson (124.217mph) and Joe Yeardsley (122.752mph) completing the top six.
Brookes (125.318mph) and Hutchinson (124.207mph) both completed another lap, speeds down as they were again short lapped as the session concluded, although it was Herbertson (KTS Macadam Factory Racing Triumph) in fifth overall after a lap of 124.499mph. Another impressive performance came in from former Macau Grand Prix winner Kostamo, the Finn lapping at 122.077mph on the Zerowaste Motorsport Ducati.
Browne topped the Sportbike leaderboard on the opening lap, despite overshooting Parliament Square, with a speed of 120.371mph putting him ahead of Michal Dokoupil (117.931mph), Barry Furber (117.320mph), Stefano Bonetti (116.747mph), Michael Sweeney (116.701mph) and Jonathan Perry (116.083mph).
Browne’s second lap on the Melbray/Laycock Racing Paton was a strong 121.348mph with Hickman (120.050mph) and Coward (119.385mph) slotting into second and third respectively on the leaderboard after getting a solitary lap each on the Swan Racing by PHR Performance and Milenco by Padgetts Paton respectively. Meanwhile, newcomer Rhys Stephenson (Rocket Racing Triumph) ended his qualifying week on a high with his best lap so far of 114.118mph.
Wednesday, May 27
Day three at the 2026 Isle of Man TT Races saw perfect weather for the third consecutive day and there was no change at the top of the leaderboard either.
Dean Harrison was again the fastest overall, the Honda Racing UK rider posting a lap of 133.867mph on his Superstock machine.
Out last, the Superbike/Superstock session saw Harrison again first on the road with most riders opting for their Superstock mounts, with Peter Hickman, John McGuinness, Josh Brookes, Ian Hutchinson and David Johnson notable exceptions.
Harrison was first to complete a lap, clocking in at 133.362mph, which placed him ahead of Michael Dunlop (131.952mph) and Nathan Harrison (130.318mph) on the Superstock leaderboard, whilst it was Hickman who was initially quickest in the Superbike class with a lap of 131.172mph on the 8TEN Racing BMW. McGuinness (130.163mph) also broke the 130mph barrier on his opening lap.
Second time around and Harrison’s speed was 133.867mph although it was a ‘short lap’, rather than a flying lap, as the whole field was brought into the pits to allow an ambulance on to the course for a non-racing emergency.
Hickman lapped at 131.328mph, but he cruised all the way from Governor’s Bridge with McGuinness doing the same, his second lap speed 130.863mph. Several riders were on course for personal best laps prior to being short lapped but an impressive performance came from newcomer Gary McCoy as he increased his speed from the previous day with a lap of 122.809mph.
The Supersport/Sportbike session got proceedings underway at 1.00pm and conditions were again perfect, the only major difference to the previous days being a slight increase in the wind.
Dunlop was first to leave the line on his MD Racing Paton followed by Brookes on the Uggly & Co. Suzuki Supersport machine. The expected front runners were split across the Supersport and Sportbike classes with Harrison, Conor Cummins, Paul Jordan, Ian Hutchinson and Jamie Coward out on the former.
Hutchinson was hoping for a trouble-free run after issues with the air scoop on Tuesday caused the fairing to work its way loose on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Ducati.
Harrison was aiming to complete his first laps on the Honda Racing Supersport machine and the lack of track time proved to be no issue. Just as he had done on Tuesday on his Superbike, he set the pace on his Supersport bike, an opening lap of 126.551mph putting him 5.9s ahead of Hickman (125.859mph) with Jordan (125.762mph) slotting into third.
Dunlop, meanwhile, was comfortably inside the Sportbike lap record with a speed of 123.557mph, his quickest ever lap on the Paton, with Mike Browne (120.516mph) and Barry Furber (117.578mph) following him in second and third respectively.
The 33-time winner switched to the Scars Racing Ducati for his second lap and immediately went third quickest in the Supersport class with a standing start lap of 127.076mph. That put him 1.4s behind Hickman who moved to the top of the leaderboard after lapping at 127.245mph, 0.025s quicker than Harrison (127.242mph) although their speeds were set on flying laps.
“Day three now so third day on the bike and I’m building myself into it slowly but surely,” said Hickman. “I’m getting my brain back into gear and starting to attack the course, so I dug in a bit more on the second lap and the little 765 Triumph feels pretty good.”
Dunlop’s second lap of 128.315mph saw him go quickest in the Supersport session from Hickman, Harrison, Brookes, Jordan and Dominic Herbertson whilst his earlier Sportbike lap of 123.557mph placed him ahead of Browne (121.030mph) and Jordan (120.475mph) with newcomer Rhys Stephenson making good progress at 112.720mph.
At 2pm, it was the turn of the Sidecars to take to the Mountain Course, and the Crowes were again quicker than the rest of the field on the opening lap, their speed of 118.458mph quicker than their best lap on Tuesday evening. The opposition had closed the gap though, Ben Birchall/Mark Wilkes 20s adrift in second at 116.427mph with Pete Founds/Jevan Walmsley (114.865) ahead of Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie (112.991) and John Holden/Phil Hyde (112.635).
Lap two saw the Crowes lap slightly slower at 118.214mph, the reduced pace largely due to it being a ‘short lap’ as the competitors were flagged off the course just before the end of the lap as the session concluded. Had it not been for that, the lap speed would have been closer to 119mph, but Birchall/Wilkes (116.753) and Founds/Walmsley (115.399) did go quicker.
James Saunders, in his second TT as a driver, and newcomer passenger Robert Coppock impressed at 110.166mph as did Carl Fenwick/Jake Roberts with a speed of 109.163mph, Fenwick having his first TT outing since 2014.
Tuesday, May 26
Lap speeds reflected the good conditions with Dean Harrison showing his hand early with a lap of 133.925mph on his Honda Racing UK Superbike, the quickest lap ever seen in an opening qualifying session.
After a 20-minute delay to proceedings, Harrison led the field away at 6.50pm followed by Nathan Harrison (H&H Motorcycles Honda), David Johnson (Platinum Club Racing Kawasaki), Michael Dunlop (Hawk Racing Honda), Jamie Coward (Rapid Honda) and Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda).
Mike Browne was out on the Russell Racing Honda but news from the paddock was that the team had decided to park the next generation R9 Yamaha for the Monster Energy Supersport class and instead run their regular R6 Yamaha.
The evening sun was, as expected, problematic, particularly on the first seven-mile run to Ballacraine but Dean Harrison was setting the pace at the head of the field and looked to be on for a 133mph lap from a standing start.
Indeed, the first, official timed lap at TT 2026 was clocked at 133.222mph with Dunlop second quickest at 130.341mph, as Brookes (130.197) and Nathan Harrison (130.010) also broke the 130mph barrier. Brookes, opting for his Superstock machine, topped the class’ leaderboard ahead of Peter Hickman (8TEN Racing BMW), the latter calling in to the pits to swap to his Superbike.
Dunlop was another to come into the pits after the first lap, several hand gestures indicating to the team there was work still to be done with the setup of the Honda Fireblade, but with tweaks to the front end of the bike he was soon back out on track.
Dean Harrison, meanwhile, pressed on and his second lap stopped the clocks at 133.925mph, the Ballaugh-based rider pulling into the pits on this occasion to swap over to his Stocker, just getting back out on course before the Superbike/Superstock qualifying session came to an end.
At 7.30pm, the Supersport/Sportbike session commenced, several of the expected front runners getting out on course a bit late after their Superbike/Superstock exploits, Dunlop, Hickman and Harrison amongst them. Michael Sweeney was also late getting out on his Supersport machine, the Irishman not happy with the front of his R6 Yamaha just before he was due to go out.
Harrison was also having problems and having only left the pits a few moments earlier, he returned far sooner than expected, the Honda CBR600RR-R’s pit limiter having stuck on.
“The two laps on the Superbike felt good,” Harrison said as his team tried to fix the issue with his Supersport bike. “133’s aren’t too bad at this stage of the week but we’ve some changes to make ahead of tomorrow.”
As he waited to go back out, the first Supersport laps were being completed, Ian Hutchinson (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Ducati) leading the way on 123.538mph from Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2) and Nathan Harrison (H&H Motorcycles Honda) at 123.455mph and 123.081mph respectively.
They were all upstaged by Dunlop though, the record 33-time winner lapping at 125.955mph on the Scars Racing Ducati with Hickman slotting into second on the Swan Triumph by PHR Performance. Dunlop went quicker still second time around, a lap of 126.922mph already showing he’ll be the man to beat again in the Supersport class.
Browne, meanwhile, set the pace in the Sportbike class with a lap of 119.097mph on the Melbray/Laycock Racing Paton. That put him just over a second ahead of Coward, who lapped at 118.977mph on the Milenco by Padgetts Paton, with Italian Andrea Majola impressing in third after posting a speed of 117.717mph on his Majo Road Racing Team by EA Paton.
Coward went slightly quicker on his second lap at 119.199mph, but it was Jordan who ended the session quickest overall with a lap of 120.208mph on his Aprilia. Michael Evans slotted into fourth (119.001) and although Majola ended up fifth, his second lap was quicker at 118.018mph.
The Sidecars wrapped up the evening’s activity around the Mountain Course, which gave the first indication of the impact the new regulations would have, particularly the use of restrictor plates reducing performance.
For Ryan and Callum Crowe, the impact was very little with the lap record holders first lap speed being an impressive 118.224mph from a standing start. That put them comfortably clear of Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley (113.553mph) and Ben Birchall/Mark Wilkes (112.969mph), the gap from first to second some 47.2s.
Both the Founds and Birchall outfits were looking faster on their second laps, but the session was red flagged before they could return to the Grandstand. The red flag was as a result of Maria Costello MBE and Shaun Parker coming off at Brandish during their second lap.
Maria’s condition is currently reported as conscious and talking, with reported head injuries, and has been taken to Noble’s Hospital by Airmed for further assessment. Passenger, Shaun, is reported as conscious and talking, with reported leg and arm injuries, and has been taken to Noble’s Hospital by Ambulance for further assessment.
Both the Founds and Birchall outfits were looking faster on their second laps, but the session was red flagged before they could return to the Grandstand. The red flag was a result of Maria Costello MBE and Shaun Parker, sidecar outfit number 28, coming off at Brandish during their second lap.
Maria’s condition is currently reported as conscious and talking, with reported head injuries, and has been taken to Noble’s Hospital by Airmed for further assessment. Passenger, Shaun, is reported as conscious and talking, with reported leg and arm injuries, and has been taken to Noble’s Hospital by Ambulance for further assessment.
