By 35 wins, 54 podium finishes, ten consecutive Supersport race victories, the TT competition numbers keep getting better-and-better for Michael Dunlop MBE.
As within the previous SSP race, Dean Harrison (Honda Racing UK) had the better of Dunlop MBE throughout opening lap proceedings, finishing lap one, 3.665 ahead, registering a new fastest ever middleweight class TT lap-speed from a standing start (129.218 mph).
In the pits, Dunlop MBE and the MD Racing/Scars Racing crew had the edge on Harrison, so much so that once the top two reached Glen Helen, Dunlop MBE held the race lead.
From here he would not relinquish the lead, moving into overdrive on lap 2, setting the fastest SSP TT lap-speed incorporating a pit-stop (127.304), ending with a final race winning gap to Harrison (up to thirty eight TT rostrums) of 26.126 seconds.
Peter Hickman, back in the Trooper Triumph colours, took third, his 34th TT podium finish.
Michael Browne (Boyce Precision Engineering/Russell Racing – Yamaha), who throughout the race had transponder issues, pipped Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing Powered by Prosper2 – Ducati) to fourth.
Josh Brookes (Uggly & Co Racing – Suzuki) completed the leader-board top six as Dominic Herbertson (P7), Jamie Coward (P8), Shaun Anderson (P9), Ian Hutchinson (P10) swept positions seventh to tenth.
Eleventh to twentieth were Mitch Rees (P11), Nathan Harrison (P12), Michael Evans (P13), 2021 IRRC SSP Champion Pierre-Yves Bian (P14), SMT Racing’s Rob Hodson (P15).
Erno Kostamo (P16), Barry Furber (P17), Michael Sweeney (P18), David Johnson (P19) and TH Racing’s Joey ‘Yorkshire’ Thompson (P20).
Non finishers included IOM aces Conor Cummins, Joe Yeardsley and Jamie Cringle, whom we wish a speedy recovery after a fall at Union Mills.
TT 2026 – Supersport Race 1 Result:
1st – Michael Dunlop MBE
2nd – Dean Harrison
3rd – Peter Hickman
4th – Michael Browne
5th – Paul Jordan
6th – Josh Brookes
7th – Dominic Herbertson
8th – Jamie Coward
9th – Shaun Anderson
10th – Ian Hutchinson
11th – Mitch Rees
12th – Nathan Harrison
13th – Michael Evans
14th – Pierre-Yves Bian
15th – Rob Hodson
16th – Erno Kostamo
17th – Barry Furber
18th – Michael Sweeney
19th – David Johnson
20th – Joey Thompson
21st – Julian Trummer
22nd – Michael Russell
23rd – Brian McCormack
24th – Kevin Keyes
25th – Toby Shann
26th – Maurizio Bottalico
27th – AJ Venter
28th – James Chawke
29th – Ryan Whitehall
30th – David Datzer
31st – Loris Majcan
32nd – Timothee Monot
33rd – Paul Cassidy
34th – Ryan Garside
35th – Dan Forbes
36th – Jack Fowler
37th – Sam Johnson
38th – Tom Weeden
39th – Martin Morris
40th – Amalric Blanc
41st – Jorge Halliday
42nd – David Brook
43rd – Craig Szczypek
Photo credit: Mark Corlett
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou
