Dean Harrison dominates Superbike race at 2026 Isle of Man TT

Honda’s Dean Harrison eased to his first-ever Superbike victory at the Isle of Man TT, as race week begins for the 2026 event.

Racing was due to get underway on Saturday with the opening Superstock contest of the week, but was cancelled due to poor weather.

That left Sunday’s six-lap Superbike TT to raise the curtain on the 2026 event, with Honda’s Dean Harrison beginning as clear favourite after leading the qualifying times.

Setting off third on the road, Harrison took the lead into Glen Helen on the opening lap and would never be headed as the first six-lap contest since 2024 wore on.

He took the chequered flag 15.580s clear of 8TEN Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman, who prevailed in a tense battle with Michael Dunlop on the Hawk Racing Honda.

Josh Brookes was fourth after a race-long battle with John McGuinness, who celebrated his 30th anniversary TT start with a fifth-place finish.

Harrison set a searing pace at the beginning of the race, opening up a 4.8s lead through Glen Helen on lap one and extending that to 12s through to the end of the tour.

The Honda rider posted a 134.892mph from a standing start and went on to build up a lead of 24.3s across lap two before making the first of his pair of pit stops.

That gap remained stable through Glen Helen at the start of lap three, though Harrison would ultimately extend this to 28.2s, and got it above 30s ahead of his final stop.

With such a commanding lead, Harrison eased off across the final lap to get to the chequered flag safely.

The battle for second raged for most of the race between Hickman and Dunlop, with the latter holding it across the first lap.

Hickman edged ahead at the Ramsey sector split on lap two, capitalising on Dunlop getting held up by Nathan Harrison through the same sector.

Dunlop got back into second over the mountain, with the pair trading places again across the third and fourth laps.

But Hickman took charge on the fifth tour and began to open up a gap over Dunlop, which he would ultimately extend to 12.4s at the chequered flag in second.

It marks his first podium since suffering multiple injuries at the TT last year in a 140mph crash.

Brookes was 56.7s behind the podium battle in third on his DAO Racing Honda, while McGuinness was 19.5s down on him in fifth on the works Honda.

Ian Hutchinson was sixth on the RST Racing BMW, with Jamie Coward just 1.273s back in seventh.

Nathan Harrison was eighth from Mike Browne and Paul Jordan, who overhauled Conor Cummins on the final lap.