Harrison fastest in final Isle Of Man TT qualifying

Dean Harrison in action at the Isle of Man TT

Image source, PacemakerImage caption,

Dean Harrison became the first rider this year to lap the 37.73-mile course with an average speed of 135 mph

ByAndy GrayBBC Sport NI Journalist

Published41 minutes ago

Honda's Dean Harrison continued his strong form at the Isle of Man TT by posting the fastest Superbike and Superstock speeds in the final qualifying sessions on Friday.

Having been the fastest rider for the majority of the week, Harrison lapped the 37.73-mile course with an average speed of 134.877mph on his Honda Superbike in the opening morning qualifying.

He then bettered that in the afternoon session on his Superstock machine as he posted a lap of 135.484mph - the fastest overall speed of the week.

Peter Hickman, Josh Brookes and Northern Ireland's Michael Dunlop, who is aiming to extend his record of 33 victories at the road race, were his closest challengers in the Superbike class in the 132mph bracket.

Dunlop was second to Harrison in Superstock qualifying with a lap of 131.946mph, ahead of Ian Hutchinson, Jamie Coward and Mike Browne, who topped the morning session when the majority of riders focused on their Superbikes.

Given his qualifying speed, Harrison will be the rider to beat when the first of eight races takes place on Saturday in a three-lap Superstock TT, before the first Superbike race on Sunday.

Dunlop was quickest in both Supersport sessions on his Ducati and ahead of Hickman, Harrison and Josh Brookes, with his speed of 128.719mph in the afternoon just shy of his fastest time of the week in the class.

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Dunlop was also the rider to beat in the Sportbike class as he posted a speed of 123.020mph in the morning session on his Paton.

Ireland's Mike Browne was the fastest man in the afternoon session but his speed of 121.348mph was down on Dunlop's earlier effort.

Hickman and Paul Jordan were the only other riders to break the 120mph barrier in the class on Friday.

While racing gets under way on Saturday, the two scheduled sidecar races will not take place after on-track action involving the class was suspended on safety grounds following an accident involving Ryan and Callum Crowe at Crosby Leap.

Organisers said the move was a "precautionary measure" following an "immediate technical and operational review" of the crash on Wednesday evening.

The first week of the 2026 Isle of Man TT has seen a series of high profile crashes, including the fatal accident of 2024 Manx Grand Prix winner Daniel Ingham on Wednesday.

On Monday, eight spectators and a rider were injured after a motorcycle crashed into a crowd on the exit from Parliament Square in Ramsey during an untimed practice session on the opening day of the event.

That was followed by a red flag incident at Brandish near the end of Tuesday evening's sidecar qualifying session, which left Maria Costello and her passenger Shaun Parker injured, and the accident for the Crowe brothers, who avoided life-threatening injuries, on Wednesday.