Classic TT: Dunlop Breaks the Anstey Record and Wins Twice in a Day

• Dunlop wins the Formula One Classic TT with a record lap of 129.078 mph
• The Lightweight brings his second win of the day, by 3:03 minutes
• Joe Loughlin sets the fastest 400 cc lap ever ridden on the Mountain Course at 113.524 mph

Sunday at the Classic TT belonged to one man. Michael Dunlop stood on the top step of the podium twice, once on a Suzuki and once on a Honda, and in both races he gave the field no chance. It was also a day on which several benchmarks fell, some of them long-standing. Anyone judging the Formula One race by its opening lap alone would have come to a completely different conclusion.

How did the Formula One Classic TT unfold?

Mike Browne led the race initially, but Dunlop took the lead at Glen Helen on the second lap and then pulled away. At the finish, 20.5 seconds separated the winner from runner-up Jamie Coward.

The three-lap race got under way at 1.45 pm, a quarter of an hour later than scheduled. Grey clouds and sunshine alternated over the Mountain Course. Browne was quick from the start on the Electric Van Company Kawasaki and led Dunlop, riding the Team Classic Suzuki, by 2.2 seconds at Glen Helen. Dominic Herbertson was a further 2.7 seconds back in third, followed by Coward, Nathan Harrison and David Johnson.

By Ballaugh, Browne had stretched his lead to 3.3 seconds, while Coward moved up to third. Behind them it stayed tight, with only two seconds covering third to sixth. Through the speed trap at Sulby, Browne was fastest at 175.492 mph. The end of the first lap brought the mandatory pit stop, and Browne led by four seconds with a lap of 127.217 mph to 126.739 mph for Dunlop.

The stop decided the race. Dunlop was considerably quicker in the pits and led by 2.7 seconds at Glen Helen on lap two. From there the gap grew steadily: 5.2 seconds at Ballaugh, 9.2 seconds at Ramsey and 14.3 seconds at the end of the second lap. Behind him the real battle developed, with Coward closing on Browne bit by bit and taking second place at Ballaugh on the final lap.

Which lap record fell in the Formula One race?

Dunlop lapped at 129.078 mph on the final lap, beating the benchmark of 127.496 mph set by Bruce Anstey in 2017. The difference amounted to around 13 seconds.

The record had therefore stood for nine years. The winning time was also considerably better than before, more than a minute inside the old mark. Notably, three of the top four riders went under the old lap record: alongside Dunlop, Coward managed it at 128.712 mph and Harrison at 127.692 mph. Browne lapped at 127.477 mph on the final lap and finished third just short of it, 8.8 seconds ahead of Harrison. Johnson was also above 126 mph in fifth.

It was the fifth Formula One Classic TT win for Dunlop since 2013. Michael Sweeney finished sixth, with Julian Trummer, Joe Yeardsley, Paul Williams and Barry Furber completing the top ten.

Who retired from the Formula One race?

The race produced numerous retirements, including several riders with podium ambitions. Peter Hickman was out after the first lap at the pits.

On the opening lap, Shaun Anderson stopped at Laurel Bank and Frenchman Amalric Blanc at Greeba Castle. Hickman retired his Norton after the mandatory stop. Herbertson did not make it to the finish and retired at the Nook, which moved Brian McCormack up to sixth. McCormack, however, crashed at Greeba Castle on the final lap. According to first reports he was conscious, and a leg injury was possible. Also on the final lap, Conor Cummins went out at Barregarrow, as did former race winner Rob Hodson.

How commanding was the Lightweight win for Dunlop?

The second win of the day was even clearer. Dunlop won the Lightweight Classic TT on the Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles Honda by 3:03 minutes from Michael Sweeney.

It looked like a genuine duel early on. Mike Browne, here on a Laycock Racing Yamaha, kept pace well and cut the deficit to 1.7 seconds by the Bungalow. Dunlop set the fastest opening lap at 118.336 mph, but Browne was almost identical at 118.284 mph and was only half a second behind at the pit stop. Here too Dunlop was clearly quicker in the pits, so the gap at Glen Helen on lap two was already 13.1 seconds. At Ramsey it was 16.6 seconds, and then Browne failed to reach the Bungalow and stopped on the Mountain Mile.

After that the race was settled. Dunlop improved to 119.081 mph on the final lap and celebrated his second Lightweight win in a row. Sweeney, who had ridden a Kawasaki in the Formula One race, took an IMS/CSC Racing Yamaha to second place here. Rhys Hardisty benefited from the retirement of Chris Moore at Union Mills and stood on a Classic TT podium in third for the first time since 2015. Only Michael Grigson, Will Loder, Jeffrey Vromant and Steve Bayley also reached the finish in this class. Paul Jordan had already gone out at Ballaugh Bridge on the first lap, and Dan Sayle retired at the pits.

Why is the Ultra-Lightweight lap by Loughlin so significant?

Joe Loughlin lapped at 113.524 mph on the final lap, the fastest lap ever completed by a 400 cc machine on the Mountain Course. That ended a benchmark set by Jim Moodie in 1993, which stood at 112.40 mph.

The race, run alongside the Lightweight, went against him for a long time. After the first lap, Loughlin led on the G2 Technical Services Kawasaki at 110.094 mph, 9.3 seconds ahead of Paul Cassidy, with Owen Monaghan a further 1.7 seconds back. Monaghan, however, had fitted a larger tank and did not need to refuel at the mandatory stop. That advantage put him 13 seconds ahead at Glen Helen on lap two.

Loughlin then clawed the deficit back step by step. At the halfway point in Ballaugh it was still 11.3 seconds, at Ramsey Hairpin 8.8 seconds and 3.2 seconds at the start of the final lap. He went ahead at Glen Helen and led by 2.4 seconds, and at the finish the margin was 22.3 seconds. Monaghan also stayed above 111 mph in second, with Cassidy third. Harley Rushton had to push his machine from Governor’s Dip and dropped back to 14th. Steven Price, Tom Snow and Brandon Brinded completed the top six. Snow was the fastest rider on a 125 at 103.032 mph.

What the race day means for the 2026 Classic TT

Sunday has clearly shifted the balance of power at the meeting. Within a few hours Dunlop won two races, took his fifth Formula One success since 2013 and claimed one of the most prestigious lap records on the island.

The overall pace was also striking. Three riders went under the old benchmark in the Formula One race, and a record dating back to 1993 fell in the Ultra-Lightweight. Riders competing in different classes on entirely different machines on the same day is part of the Classic TT, and it was particularly evident this time with Sweeney and Browne, who both lined up in both races.

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