TT 2026 Supersport Qualifying: Dunlop’s Ducati Outclasses the Field, Jordan Leads Sportbike

• Dunlop on the Ducati Panigale V2 more than 2.6 mph faster than second-placed Josh Brookes
• Paul Jordan leads the Sportbike class at 120.208 mph on the Aprilia RS 660
• Peter Hickman returns after his serious 2025 crash as third-fastest in Supersport

On Tuesday evening, after the completed Superbike/Superstock session, the Supersport and Sportbike machines rolled onto the 37.73-mile Mountain Course of the Isle of Man. What followed was a demonstration by Michael Dunlop in the Monster Energy Supersport TT and a promising debut of the newly renamed Sportbike class with Paul Jordan at the top. The qualifying evening had started with a delay of around 20 minutes after a traffic accident on the course had delayed the release. Both solo sessions then ran without interruption.

How dominant was Michael Dunlop in the Supersport class?

Michael Dunlop rode his Scars/MD Racing Team Ducati Panigale V2 to a lap speed of 126.922 mph, finishing a massive 22.8 seconds ahead of the second-placed rider. The Northern Irishman’s superiority was so clear that his advantage over Josh Brookes amounted to more than 2.6 mph. Dunlop completed two laps on the V2, starting with 125.9 mph from a standing start and improving to his best time on his second lap.

The 33-time TT winner has now won all eight Supersport races since the class returned in 2022. Fifteen of his 33 TT victories come from the Supersport category. In 2025, he won both Supersport races at the TT on the Ducati Panigale V2, securing Ducati’s first TT victories in 30 years. In the TT Radio commentary, co-commentator Cam Donald aptly summed up the situation before the session: Dunlop is simply the man to beat in the Supersport class.

According to the experts in the commentary, part of the dominance lies in the Ducati Panigale V2 itself. The motorcycle offers excellent throttle response and very direct power delivery. At the same time, there are stability issues that, according to former racer Davy Todd, present a challenge when riding on the road. Dunlop and his team reportedly modified the tank and changed the weight distribution over the winter to address this weakness. The results speak for themselves.

How did Josh Brookes perform on the Suzuki GSX-R750?

Josh Brookes took second place at 124.271 mph, delivering a strong performance on the Suzuki GSX-R750 of the Carl Cox Motorsport/Uggly & Co Racing Team. The Australian, a former race winner in the Supersport World Championship, had already reached the podium at the North West 200 and continued this form on the Mountain Course.

Behind the scenes, there is a remarkable story: Brookes’ data analyst for the TT is Keelan Irwin, the younger brother of Reece Irwin, the reigning British Supersport Champion. The Suzuki GSX-R750 that Brookes races is the same motorcycle on which Reece Irwin won the British title. Keelan Irwin explained on TT Radio that the biggest challenge with the Suzuki is the braking behavior. The motorcycle is based on an older design where the fuel tank sits relatively high, which affects the weight distribution. For the TT, they made significant changes to both the suspension and electronics.

The commentary highlighted Brookes’ top speed in the speed trap: 170 mph on the Supersport machine, a figure that is normally Ducati territory. This speaks to strong engine performance from the machine built by Classic Suzuki and the team.

The Suzuki GSX-R750 benefits from the Next Generation regulations, which raised the displacement from the previous 600 cc to 750 cc. In the commentary, Brookes described the motorcycle as the perfect bridge between a 600 and a 1000, with almost the same weight and almost the same power.

How did Peter Hickman’s comeback in the Supersport class go?

Peter Hickman returned with 123.584 mph in third place. The 14-time TT winner and holder of the absolute lap record on the Mountain Course rides a Triumph Street Triple 765 RS in the Supersport class under the banner of Swan Racing/Trooper Triumph by PHR Performance.

Hickman’s return is anything but straightforward. Last year, he crashed at over 200 km/h during a serious qualifying accident at Kerrowmoar after an exhaust bracket on his BMW broke. The crash caused nerve damage in his upper arm, and for a time it was unclear whether Hickman could return at the same level. Two additional crashes at the Daytona 200 in early 2026 further complicated the recovery process.

On TT Radio, his team manager reported that Hickman struggled with arm cramps during the Superbike/Superstock session, attributed to the nerve injury and tension. Hickman himself emphasized that he wanted to build up at his own pace and not make the mistake of chasing the faster riders. Nevertheless, he was only 0.046 mph behind fourth-placed Ian Hutchinson in the Supersport class.

What does the rest of the Supersport field look like?

Ian Hutchinson, the 16-time TT winner, took fourth place at 123.538 mph. It is his first TT year on Ducati machinery: he rides a Panigale V2 for Burrows Engineering/RK Racing. Hutchinson had already shown significantly better form than in previous years at the North West 200. The commentary emphasized that Hutchinson felt truly good on the first qualifying evening for the first time in three TTs.

Paul Jordan completed the top five at 123.455 mph on a second Ducati Panigale V2 for Jackson Racing by Prosper2. Mike Browne on the Yamaha R6 from Russell Racing followed in sixth at 123.182 mph. Browne had deliberately opted against the newer Yamaha R9 because the team did not consider the motorcycle sufficiently mature yet. The R6, which has been developed by Russell Racing for eight years, remains one of the best-handling motorcycles on the Mountain Course, according to Browne’s team principal Alistair Russell.

Nathan Harrison rounded out the top group in seventh at 123.081 mph on the Honda CBR600RR from H&H Motorcycles. In the commentary, he was highlighted as one of the riders who could push to the absolute top in the coming years.

The brand diversity in the Supersport class is remarkable: Ducati, Suzuki, Triumph, Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki are all represented in the top 10. Dominic Herbertson (KTS Triumph Factory Racing, Triumph Street Triple 765 RS) took eighth at 122.633 mph, followed by Conor Cummins on another Suzuki GSX-R750 (North Lincs Components) at 121.609 mph. International riders are also represented: Finnish rider Erno Kostamo (20th, Ducati Panigale V2), French riders Pierre-Yves Bian (19th, Triumph) and Timothée Monot (18th) all posted times above the 118 mph mark.

Who dominates the new Sportbike class?

Paul Jordan took the top of the timesheets in the Carole Nash Sportbike TT at 120.208 mph on the Aprilia RS 660 from Jackson Racing by Prosper2. He was just under one mile per hour faster than Jamie Coward, who posted 119.199 mph.

The Sportbike class is the successor to the former Supertwin category. The renaming is more than cosmetic: the new regulations open the class to motorcycles such as the Triumph Daytona 660, the CFMoto 675SR-R, and the Suzuki GSX-8R, which can now compete alongside the established Paton S1-R, Aprilia RS 660, and Yamaha R7. 2026 serves as a transitional year. The established twin-cylinder specialists like the Paton are likely to be competitive one more time before the new sportbike machines begin to dominate the field from 2027 onwards.

Coward, racing the Paton S1-R for the historic Milenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles team, put in a strong performance with his time. The experienced road racer had missed the entire 2025 TT due to injury and only returned to racing at the North West 200. Team principal Clive Padgett explained on TT Radio that Coward had the Paton set up to his riding profile at the North West 200 and felt immediately comfortable. Tuesday’s session was Coward’s first lap on the Sportbike machine this TT year.

In the commentary, Coward’s return was given an emotional perspective. Cam Donald, himself a former TT racer, spoke about how an injury-related absence from the Mountain Course weighs particularly heavily because track knowledge grows with each season and re-entry after a lost year is correspondingly challenging.

Mike Browne completed the podium on another Paton S1-R (Melbray/Laycock Racing) at 119.097 mph. Browne benefits from his collaboration with Eddie Laycock, a two-time TT winner and specialist in the smaller classes who has been his team partner for years.

How international is the Sportbike class?

The Sportbike class showed a remarkably international picture at the first qualifying. Andrea Majola from Italy of the Majo Road Racing Team took fifth at 118.018 mph on a Paton S1-R. His compatriot Stefano Bonetti, with 83 TT starts since 2004 one of the most experienced riders in the field, switched from the Paton to an Aprilia RS 660 of the Ducoli Corse team this year and finished seventh at 116.776 mph. Bonetti described the motorcycle according to the commentary as having around 100 to 105 horsepower, providing relevant data for the sportbike future from 2027.

Czech rider Michal Dokoupil (Indiracing) finished sixth at 117.643 mph on another Aprilia RS 660. Overall, riders from Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Czech Republic, France, and other nations were represented in the top 20.

Peter Hickman, still third in the Supersport class, found himself tenth in the Sportbike standings at 115.580 mph on the Yamaha R7 of his Swan Racing by PHR Performance team. This suggests that the Yamaha R7 still needs development work in this category.

What role does the Paton S1-R play in the Sportbike class?

Three Paton machines in the top five of the Sportbike class underline the strength of the Italian sportbike project on the Mountain Course. The Paton S1-R is a machine specifically developed for racing that comes from the SC factory in Italy and is maintained by Andrea and Lorenzo. In the TT Radio commentary, Cam Donald explained that the Paton remains the motorcycle to beat in the Sportbike class because, as a specialized racing machine, it has advantages over the more road-homologation-oriented production motorcycles.

However, 2026 is likely the last year in which the Paton can play a dominant role in its current form. From 2027, the Sportbike class is expected to switch entirely to production motorcycles. For this transitional year, new bodywork parts were reportedly introduced on the Paton that bring the motorcycle aerodynamically closer to a Moto2 bike and are intended to improve top speed.

What is next on the schedule?

Two more qualifying sessions are scheduled for Wednesday. The first begins at 1:00 PM in the afternoon with the Supersport/Sportbike session, with the third qualifying round following in the evening from 6:30 PM. The Sidecar session on Tuesday evening was red-flagged after only one completed lap due to an incident at Brandish, meaning the sidecar crews will get their first real qualifying opportunity on the Mountain Course on Wednesday.

The decisive question remains: can anyone seriously challenge Dunlop’s Supersport dominance in the upcoming sessions? The margin of over 2.6 mph over the field suggests that the combination of Dunlop and Ducati Panigale V2, now in its third year on the Mountain Course, remains the benchmark in the middleweight class. In the Sportbike class, the pecking order is likely to shift significantly once all riders can accumulate more laps.

The Isle of Man TT 2026 fits these two classes into the broader racing calendar of the year. In the Supersport category, Dunlop now has eight consecutive victories at the TT, representing the longest winning streak by a single rider in this class. The Sportbike category, meanwhile, stands at the beginning of a new era that marks the transition from specialized racing machines to production-based motorcycles.

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➜ This article is part of our comprehensive coverage of the Isle of Man TT 2026. Find all information on the schedule, riders, teams and results in our complete TT 2026 overview.