Up-and-coming Scottish racer Johnny Stewart (pictured) continued his impressive form from practice week at the 2026 Manx Grand Prix, winning both the Sportbike and Supersport races and posting a 120mph lap to become the 36th and final member of the Tommy Club – an award given in honour of the late Tommy Clucas, the first rider to record a 120mph lap at the event.
In his second year at the event, 25-year-old Stewart from Galashiels was fastest in qualifying for both classes and lived up to his pre-race favourite status by gunning his Aprilia RS 660 to victory in Saturday lunchtime’s three-lap Road Racing News Sportbike race.
Stewart set an opening lap of 115.793mph, breaking the race lap record even with a mandatory pit stop. He would extend his lead and further lower his lap record on the third and final lap of the 37.73-mile Mountain Course, setting an impressive average lap speed of 116.844mph as he came home more than 22 seconds ahead of second-placed Eddy Wormald from Bedfordshire, with Northern Irish newcomer Kevin Lavery proving a surprise podium finisher after a sensational 116.3mph final lap.
After a few hours’ break, the competitors lined up for the four-lap Glover Law Supersport race and, from the off, Stewart got the hammer down. Riding his Ducati Panigale V2, he set a 121.663mph lap to build a 17-second lead over Lee Hara. Hara, a 20-year-old from Coleraine, also joined the 120mph club on lap two, but crashed out at Braddan Bridge on the fourth and final lap. Stewart took a comfortable win, a minute ahead of Yamaha-mounted Graham McAleese, with Suzuki GSX-R750 rider Wormald taking his second podium of the day in third.
By virtue of being the first rider to top 120mph in the race, Stewart became the final rider to join the Tommy Club, where membership was capped at 36 riders, each one representing a year of Clucas’ life. Hara, the 37th rider to post a 120mph lap at the Manx, misses out but will undoubtedly to be a name to look out for at the TT in future years.
With the weather forecast predicting heavy rain later in the week, a decision was made to bring forward the two final Manx Grand Prix races to Monday (24 August), when the Carole Nash Junior and O’Kell’s Senior are set to round out the event.
The schedule change also sees the Classic Isle of Man TT racing brought forward.
Paul Jordan won Saturday evening’s dramatic Historic Junior Classic TT opener at an average of over 104mph. Senior TT winner Dean Harrison had set the early pace, but his bike broke down on lap one. Mike then took over the lead and set a new lap record for the class, but once again the old classics proved fragile and he too went out, parking up with a puncture on the second and final lap.
With Jamie Coward another high-profile retirement, the final podium places went to Dominic Herbertson and TT legend John McGuinness – all three riders on Honda CB350 K4s. The race also marked sidecar legend Ben Birchall’s two-wheeled debut on the Mountain Course, and he finished 11th at an average speed of just over 94mph on yet another CB350.
Sunday saw Michael Dunlop almost inevitably dominate the three-lap Classic Formula One TT on a Suzuki GSX-R750 SRAD. The 36-time TT winner won by over 20 seconds from Coward, with Browne completing the podium. Dunlop added another record to his incredible CV when he took the mid-Nineties Suzuki to a 129.078mph lap on his final circulation, beating the nine-year-old lap record set by Bruce Anstey on a 500cc Yamaha Grand Prix bike.
Both Coward and Browne were mounted on Kawasaki ZXR750s, which was by far-and-away the most popular bike on the grid, filling second through to ninth place in the final results. After a week of bike gremlins, Peter Hickman retired the WizNorton Rotary at the Grandstand after one lap.
Dunlop was at it again in the Lightweight Classic TT, taking the Milenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles Honda RS250 to an untroubled victory and winning by more than three minutes from Yamaha-mounted Michael Sweeney and Rhys Hardisty. In the new Ultra Lightweight Classic TT, run concurrently with the Lightweight, Joe Loughlin took the win on his Kawasaki ZXR400 – recording the fastest ever lap of the Mountain Course on a 400cc four-stroke when he lowered Jim Moodie’s 33-year-old lap record.
He posted a 113.524mph lap, beating the 112.4mph best from the 1993 TT races, to take the lead from Owen Monaghan – who finished second – with Paul Cassidy in third. Competing alongside the 400cc four-cylinder four-strokes in the Ultra Lightweight were 125cc two-stroke Grand Prix bikes, with Tom Snow the top 125 runner in eighth.
The rest of the classic racing will now be compressed into two action-packed days. Monday sees the Historic Senior Classic TT run between the two Manx Grand Prix races, with the new Junior 600 Classic TT taking place over two laps in the evening. Racing at the festival is due to conclude with the four-lap Senior Classic TT, largely featuring the same machinery as Sunday’s Formula One race, on Tuesday morning.
The TT Rewind and classic sidecar parade is slated for Tuesday lunchtime, before 12-bike parade featuring some of John McGuinness’ most iconic race machines is now scheduled to close out the event on Tuesday afternoon, with riders including Dean Harrison, Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman and McGuinness himself celebrating the 30-year career of one of the most successful and popular racers to compete at the TT Races.
Photos: Manxgrandprix.com/Isle of Man TT Races
