DEAN HARRISON SETS FASTEST EVER OPENING QUALIFYING LAP AT TT 2026
After Monday’s free practice session, qualifying got underway in earnest on Tuesday evening for the 2026 Isle of Man TT Races with perfect weather again bathing the entire 37 and ¾-mile Mountain Course.
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 set the fastest lap of the session at over 133mph.
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.
Dunlop in control on the Supersport machine, going fastest early in the session.
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 Crowe brothers dominate early sidecar qualifying with a 118mph+ lap.
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 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.
