Brookes stays on top in Isle of Man Superstock Q3

Josh Brookes continues his strong Superstock form, as Davo Johnson broke into the top 6 in Superbike Qualifying

Dean Harrison continued to lead the way through a busy day of Isle of Man TT qualifying, topping the outright times in the earlier session before setting the Superbike pace again in the evening. Josh Brookes remained a major factor as well, backing up his earlier form with the fastest Superstock lap in the later session, while Michael Dunlop bounced back in Supersport after mechanical trouble disrupted his big bike running. The day ended in unfortunate fashion when the evening Sidecar session was quickly red-flagged following an incident involving Ryan and Callum Crowe at Crosby.

Nathan Harrison was first away on the H&H Motorcycles Honda in a change to the usual pattern for the evening session, and as in the afternoon, most of the field began on their Superstock machines. The main exceptions were Dean Harrison, Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman, who all headed out on Superbikes.

Superbike

Dean Harrison headed out after making a handful of changes to the Superbike to make it easier to ride, with the plan to complete two steady laps as the low evening sun again made conditions tricky around the Mountain Course. Jamie Coward was a notable absentee after the Superstock engine in his Rapid Honda failed in the earlier afternoon qualifying session.

Dunlop appeared to hit trouble in the opening nine miles, his split to Glen Helen more than 30 seconds down on Harrison’s. He recovered some time by Ballaugh, but his lap still came in at only 127.869mph, well short of Harrison’s pace-setting 133.712mph standing-start lap. Hickman improved to 132.039mph to remain Harrison’s closest challenger before later posting 131.404mph on his second Superbike outing. Harrison’s second lap was 132.477mph after he encountered traffic.

Earlier in the day, Harrison had also been fastest overall with a 133.867mph Superstock lap, while Hickman led the Superbike class in that session with 131.172mph before improving to 131.328mph. McGuinness also broke 130mph, and TT newcomer Gary McCoy continued to impress with 122.809mph. Aussie David Johnson went 6th fastest on his ZX-10RR with a 129.425mph, saying afterwards, “So far, so good. I’ve only done a few laps really, so we’re just getting there. Found some things with the bike, moving forward with it. Changes were made after the first bit, nothing major, but yeah, still getting comfortable as well.”

2026 Isle of Man TT Superbike Qualifying 3

Superstock

Brookes led the way in the evening Superstock running with 131.943mph, putting 10 seconds on Ian Hutchinson at 130.691mph and Nathan Harrison at 130.240mph. McGuinness later posted 129.357mph, his best Superstock lap of the week, while Hickman recorded 129.273mph in traffic.

Dunlop’s session came to an early end when he pulled off at Quarterbridge and returned to the Grandstand after issues with both bikes.

Earlier in the day, Harrison had set the Superstock benchmark with laps of 133.362mph and 133.867mph, ahead of Dunlop and Nathan Harrison on the first lap. Brookes, Hickman, McGuinness, Hutchinson and David Johnson had all opted to use Superbikes in that earlier session.

Speaking to Superbike News, Brookes said, “We’re fairly early in the event and we’re already doing some good times, but I think it’s relative to the conditions. Last year we had a lot of rain, a lot of delays, and cold conditions. So even if the conditions are good enough to go fast, it’s mental, it holds you back, because you’re kind of looking around to see where the damp patches are, where there aren’t any. Whereas these first three days have been perfect. So the track temperature’s warm and there’s a lot of rubber already. The lines on the track help to decide your tipping point and your acceleration. So the more the rubber’s down, the more you can take more risks because you’ve got more evidence that you’re on the right spot, in the right place. And yeah, the bike’s working well. We’ve got a couple of little changes we’re going to continue to make to try and refine the package, but it’s already in a good area anyway. So I think most of the time, if there are improvements, it’s going to come from me just getting better at it myself.”

2026 Isle of Man TT Superstock Qualifying 3

Supersport

Dunlop bounced back strongly in the evening Supersport session, opening with 128.764mph before improving to 129.557mph to top the class. Harrison was second on 125.960mph and Jordan third on 125.227mph, while Hickman ended up seventh behind Dunlop, Harrison, Jordan, Brookes, Mike Browne and Dominic Herbertson. Joey Thompson also impressed with his fastest ever Supersport lap.

In the earlier session, Harrison had set the early pace at 126.551mph before Hickman edged ahead on lap two with 127.245mph, just 0.025s quicker than Harrison. Dunlop switched from the Paton to the Ducati and then raised the bar to 128.315mph, putting him ahead of Hickman, Harrison, Brookes, Jordan and Herbertson.

2026 Isle of Man TT Supersport Qualifying 3

Sportbike

Coward led the evening Sportbike session with 119.832mph, clear of Herbertson on 117.685mph. Dokoupil initially held third at 117.437mph and then improved to 117.713mph to move ahead of Herbertson.

Earlier in the day, Dunlop had topped the class with 123.557mph, his quickest ever lap on the Paton. Browne was second at 121.030mph, Jordan took third at 120.475mph, and newcomer Rhys Stephenson continued to make progress with 112.720mph.

Sidecars

The evening Sidecar session was red-flagged less than five minutes after it began.

Earlier in the day, Ryan and Callum Crowe again led the way with 118.458mph before a shortened second lap at 118.214mph. Birchall and Wilkes improved from 116.427mph to 116.753mph, while Founds and Walmsley also stepped up from 114.865mph to 115.399mph. James Saunders and Robert Coppock impressed at 110.166mph, while Carl Fenwick and Jake Roberts recorded 109.163mph.

That brought the day to a close. Thursday is a rest day, with the next qualifying session due to begin at 10.30am on Friday.

Ryan and Callum Crowe were later confirmed to have come off at Crosby during the evening sidecar session. Both rider and passenger were conscious and talking at the scene before being taken by ambulance to Noble’s Hospital for further assessment of their injuries.

A separate incident also occurred earlier in the session at Doran’s Bend. A further update is expected in due course.