Formula 1 Classic TT: Michael Dunlop takes the win, Julian Trummer in P7

No fewer than four Kawasaki riders dominated qualifying for the Formula One Classic TT race. Mike Browne topped the timesheet by a clear margin ahead of Jamie Coward and David Johnson. In fourth place, ahead of Nathan Harrison, Dominic Herbertson and Shaun Anderson, Michael Dunlop, riding his Suzuki, was over 20 seconds off the fastest time set in practice.

Peter Hickman, who had surprisingly spent the last few days on the European mainland taking part in tyre tests for Dunlop at Magny-Cours, fell well short of expectations in practice. On his Wankel-Norton, he had only managed the 24th-fastest time due to a number of issues with the fuel supply.

Julian Trummer, the only German-speaking rider in the 37-strong field, set his personal best lap time to date on a Classic bike during Saturday’s standing start. As it transpired that his Kawasaki had lost oil during the final practice session, he decided, in consultation with the TC Racing/CD Coldplaning team, to use the spare bike for the race.

After a brief delay, the race finally got under way

Fifteen minutes behind schedule due to a brief rain shower, Harrison – the local hero who had crashed the previous day – got the three-lap race underway on the 60.725-kilometre-long Snaefell Mountain Course. Behind him came Browne, Johnson and Coward – the top three from qualifying. Dunlop took to the track after Rob Hodson. Twenty seconds after him, Hickman stormed off the line. Trummer left the starting line in 13th place.

At Ramsey, the top four were Browne ahead of Dunlop, Coward and Harrison. Trummer was in tenth place. Anderson, who was certainly capable of a top-three finish, failed to make it to the first split time and had to park his Suzuki at Laurel Bank. Hickman was lagging behind the field. Whilst Browne clocked 175.492 miles per hour on the Suby Straight, Hickman managed a modest 131.533 mph.

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Before the mandatory pit stop after the first lap, Browne leads by 4.025 seconds ahead of Dunlop. Coward is a further 4.661 seconds behind. However, he cannot be certain of his third place. Harrison is just 1.012 seconds behind him. The rest of the top 10 is made up of Herbertson, Johnson, Brian McCormack, Conor Cummins, Michael Sweeney and Trummer.

Dunlop takes the lead on lap 2

At the Glen Helen split, Dunlop has moved into first place. Browne is 2.769 seconds behind him, whilst Browne is 4.089 seconds ahead of Coward. Trummer has also moved up a place and has Sweeney in his sights. As was to be expected, Hickman dismounted his bike at the pits.

Going into the final lap, Dunlop has opened up a lead of over 14 seconds over Browne, who crosses the start-finish line just 3.278 seconds ahead of Coward. Harrison is still within striking distance of third place, though he needs to make up just over seven seconds on Coward. Behind them, the positions appear to be set. As Herbertson crashes out between Cronk ny Mona and the Grandstand, Trummer moves up to 8th place.

Whilst Dunlop appears set to cruise to an unchallenged victory, the battle for second place is heating up once again. At Glen Helen, Coward is still just behind Browne in third place, but by Ballaugh Bridge they have swapped positions. It looks as though Browne has no answer to the attack. From split time to split time, he continues to lose ground and will be lucky to defend third place.

After three laps, or 182.175 kilometres, Dunlop crosses the finish line as the much-celebrated winner. On the final lap, he beats the lap record set by New Zealander Bruce Anstey in 2017 by an incredible 13 seconds. Coward holds on to second place ahead of Browne, Harrison, Johnson and Sweeney. Trummer, despite gearbox problems, manages to finish in seventh place.

Formula One Classic TT results, Isle of Man, 23 August 2026

1. Michael Dunlop (GB), 3 laps in 53:32.950 mins. 2. Jamie Coward (GB), Kawasaki, 20.579 sec behind. 3. Mike Browne (IRL), Kawasaki, +27.524 sec. 4. Nathan Harrison (GBM), Kawasaki. 5. David Johnson (AUS), Kawasaki, 6. Michael Sweeney (IRL), Kawasaki. 7. Julian Trummer (A), Kawasaki. 8. Joe Yeardsley (GB), Kawasaki.