JAMIE COWARD AND MIKE BROWNE TURN UP THE PACE IN FINAL DAY OF QUALIFYING
As qualifying draws to a close around the TT Mountain Course and teams make their final adjustments before racing kicks off in earnest, two riders who’ll be going to bed a little easier will be Jamie Coward and Mike Browne, both of whom had strong days to end their practice week.
While a lot of the headlines have been grabbed by Dean Harrison’s jaw-dropping pace for the start of the fortnight, numerous stories have been steadily building across the paddock. For example, Jamie Coward’s fortnight didn’t start exactly how he’d planned, before making amends on Friday afternoon.
A member of the 130 Club since the opening Superstock race in 2023, before the final qualifying session the Yorkshireman’s best lap of TT 2026 was a 128.317mph, having missed all of Wednesday’s big bike running after an engine expiration left him without a bike for the 1000cc qualifying sessions.
With a fresh engine fitted to the Rapid Honda CBR1000RR-R, Coward flew around the Mountain Course before clocking in his first 130mph lap of 2026.
Coward has now clocked his first 130mph lap of TT 2026
“It’s been a really good day, a productive day, to be fair,” said the two-time TT podium finisher. “Myself and the team have been down a bit of a rabbit hole and we got lost a little bit with setup. We made a massive change for the last qualifying session and I’m actually riding the big bike now, rather than it riding me. We’ve made massive improvements so now we can go on and just make little minute changes to get it better and better.
Not only did Coward improve on the big bike, but he also set his fastest time of the week on the CBR600RR in the Supersport category later that same afternoon, suggesting the momentum is swinging in his favour just at the right point. He also lapped a competitive time on the Paton for the Sportbike class, but a pitlane start and short lap as the session ended meant setting a week’s best on that particular bike was always going to be unlikely.
“For me, personally, once the big bike gets sorted the confidence then passes onto the smaller class,” explained Coward. “After this last qualifying session I could then ride a bit harder because I’ve got confidence on the big bike. Same again on the little Paton, the lap time’s not far away and we’ve improved all day so I’m really really chuffed with how it’s gone.”
Coward also set his fastest time of the week on his CBR600RR later that same afternoon.
With qualifying now safely filed away, attention turns to the opening race of 2026 - the three-lap RL360 Superstock TT, before the six-lap RST Superbike TT on Sunday. For Coward, while a podium would be the ultimate achievement, for him it’s more about personal gains on previous years’ performances than anything else.
“I always try to improve my race time or my lap time,” he said. “I come back every year and just want to improve on my race or my lap time. If I can improve my lap time I know I’m going to be close to the front. From the session earlier on today I think we’re third or fourth fastest in Superstock, so we’re not a million miles away from the podium. If we can make improvements for the rest of the week then hopefully we can hopefully fight for podiums in all classes.”
Mike Browne has also enjoyed a strong end to practice week.
Another rider who’s enjoyed a strong end to their practice week is Mike Browne. The Irishman topped the time sheets in the Superstock category in Qualifying 4, and although this may have been helped by the majority of the front runners opting to run their Superbikes, his performance still puts him very much in the conversation for a top five result in the big bike category.
“I’m feeling good,” said Browne. “The track’s good. We hadn’t planned on doing as many laps as we did today, we were going to rest for tomorrow but we made a few changes so we had to go out and try them. Overall, I'm happy, and there’s definitely more pace there.”
The Sportbike category was always going to be Browne’s strongest chance of success, and he proved that with aplomb in the final session of the week, lapping the number one plated Melbray/Laycock Racing Paton at 121.348mph, just a shade slower than his best ever lap on the 650cc machine. While Michael Dunlop is easily the favourite to take overall honours in the two Sportbike races, Browne is comfortably second fastest and will be there to pick up the pieces should any mechanical woes befall Dunlop during the two three-lap races.
“Because of my size, Sportbike obviously suits me and the Paton is strong,” continued Browne, who will be hoping to add to his two podium results to date in the category. “I’m feeling good riding the big bike and the 600 as well. We’re off the pace maybe for the podium but we’re there to pick up the pieces if anything happens at the same time, and you need to be doing the pace I’m doing to do that.”
