After much expectation and hype, this year’s Isle of Man TT Races have got underway in a somewhat subdued fashion as inclement weather has decided to rear its ugly head, ironically after several weeks of dry weather and sunshine throughout the British Isles.
Sessions lost but Harrison sets the pace
The event should have got underway with almost two hours of free practice on Monday morning and two hours of qualifying in that afternoon. Instead, just the speed-controlled lap for the 2025 newcomers took place.
Tuesday evening saw damp patches around the course which meant organisers took the wise decision to run it as free practice rather than qualifying so it was Wednesday evening when qualifying finally took place in anger. And when it did, it was Honda Racing’s Dean Harrison who came out of the blocks fastest.
The Bradford rider, who now resides on the Isle of Man, comes into this year’s TT in his second year at Honda and does so after setting his maiden 135mph lap twelve months ago. But he’s consistently been the bridesmaid of late, and you have to go back to 2019 to find his last win. The recent North West 200 followed a similar pattern where he took five second place finishes.
It’s fair to say he has a point to prove and although outwardly he’s not saying it, he’s desperate for another TT win. 30 TT podiums is a great return but only three of those have been wins so his 133mph lap on the opening lap of qualifying certainly laid down a marker.
The opposition may well have been easing their way into the Mountain Course that little bit more but they all would have noted Harrison’s pace, particularly as it was the quickest ever lap recorded on day one.
Four-way fight for honours?
Including Harrison, TT2025 is expected to be a four-way fight between him, record 29-time winner Michael Dunlop, 14-time victor and outright lap record holder Peter Hickman and Davey Todd, the Yorkshire rider taking his first TT victories last year.
That means Harrison and Honda are pitted against a three-pronged BMW attack, Dunlop riding the ROKiT BMW Motorrad machine, almost identical in specification to the bike being ridden by World Superbike Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, and Hickman and Todd team-mates at Monster Energy by 8TEN Racing BMW Motorrad.
At the North West 200, honours were fairly even, Todd winning the opening Superbike encounter, Dunlop the second and then Todd the third. The second was one of the most controversial seen at the event, Dunlop penalised ten seconds after running on at the Mather’s chicane before tearing his way through the field to ‘win’ on the road.
The penalty was then rescinded which meant instead of finishing third, he’d won much to the chagrin of both Todd, who thought he’d won, and Hickman. The heat simmered over the rest of the day and Todd, who’s become a bit of an expert at the North West, reasserted his authority with wins in both the feature Superbike and Superstock races.
Of course, the NW200 is very different to the TT in almost every aspect but whilst it’s still very much expected to be a four-way fight for honours, so evenly are they matched, Dunlop may shade it given his record number of wins and the machinery he has at his disposal.
Dunlop the favourite?
Becoming the most successful rider in TT history, a label he took last year from his Uncle Joey who had held it for 24 years on 26 wins, has seemingly lifted a great weight from Michael’s shoulders. And now his goals have shifted.
The main one centres around the 1000cc races, specifically the Superbike and Senior races. Having only won one of these since 2018, he’s been overshadowed significantly there by Hickman and that’s why him and his sponsors have pulled out all the stops with his machinery, the aforementioned factory-spec BMW M1000RR.
He’s desperate to get back on the top step of a big bike podium especially as a win in last year’s Superbike race was taken away from him after his well-documented victor issues at his second pit stop.
His BMW is without doubt the best bike on the grid and it’s a similar story in the Supersport class. 13 of his 29 victories have come in the Supersport division, including the last six in a row, but with the ‘next generation’ machines in the ascendancy, he’s jumped ship from his trusty 600cc R6 Yamaha to a 959cc Ducati.
And it’s not just any old Ducati, it’s a Ducati Panigale V2 built by Feel Racing, the same team who took Adrian Huertas to the 2024 World Supersport Championship.
Throw in his Paton for the two Supertwin races and Dunlop could win all eight solo races on this year’s programme. It’s highly unlikely he will, as the TT is never that straightforward, but his stable of machinery means he’s well placed in all classes.
A match made in heaven? Or not…?
When it was announced Hickman and Todd would be lining up as team-mates initially at FHO Racing and then 8TEN Racing, it raised a number of eyebrows. How could two arch-rivals in the same team possibly work?
They’re convinced it can. As determined as they are on track, they’re equally laid back off it and it’s clear they’re good friends. That could be seen at the North West 200 where Hickman was the first to congratulate his younger team-mate. They come into the TT in significantly different positions.
Hickman wasn’t his usual self twelve months ago and having won four races in both 2022 and 2023, picking up just one victory in 2024 was a major surprise for all concerned. We’ve subsequently found out internal issues at the team played there part but that’s now been addressed, and he’ll be determined to reassert his authority on the 1000cc class where he’s won 11 of the 16 races to take place since 2018.
Todd, on the other hand, is at a different point in his career. The two wins in 2024, in the Superstock and Senior races, along with a 135mph+ lap has elevated him to ‘alien’ status. The big three became the big four and the expectation on Todd now is to serve up repeat performances.
The season’s started slowly with bikes and key components arriving late. Both him and Hickman have had disappointing starts to their British Superbike Championship seasons whilst the NW200 saw them run their BSB-spec engines. That’s probably why Dunlop’s BMW looked so fast so when they get their full-blown Superbike engines for the TT, there’ll be confident of competing on a level playing field.
Podium contenders
The NW200 robbed the TT of one of the key podium contenders, Jamie Coward. The Yorkshire rider, an ever-present in the top six for the last three years at the TT had been rewarded with a factory Triumph for the Supersport class whilst continuing with the highly professional KTS Racing team for the 1000cc class.
However, a last-lap crash in the opening Supertwin race at the North West 200 has ruled him out of the TT so that means the likes of Josh Brookes, James Hillier, Conor Cummins, Mike Browne and the evergreen pairing of Ian Hutchinson and John McGuinness will be the major players looking to break the stranglehold of the big four.
Brookes, on paper at least, is the best placed to challenge having finished second in last year’s Senior where he lapped at more than 134mph to become the fifth fastest TT rider in history. A strong start to his BSB season, including a podium at round two at Donington Park, means he arrives in confident mood and although his TT team is different to BSB, he’s still riding a Honda and Jackson Racing have plenty of years’ experience on the island.
Hillier and McGuinness, along with the unfortunate Coward, all lapped at 132mph last year whilst Cummins is looking to bounce back after two disappointing years. Switching from Padgetts Honda to the BE/RK Racing BMW offers a new challenge and it’s a similar story for Hutchinson.
The 16-time winner had a low-key return to racing last year after a stroke ruled him out of the entire 2023 season but, like Cummins, he’s now BMW mounted and enjoyed a strong North West 200 which saw him make a popular return to the podium. He’ll have to go some way to do that at the TT, but top six finishes will represent a good return.
Having started watching motorcycle races all over the world form childhood, Phil Wain has been a freelance motorcycle journalist for almost 20 years and is features writer for a number of publications including BikeSport News, Classic Racer and Road Racing Ireland, as well as being a regular contributor to MCN and MCN Sport.
He is PR officer for a number of teams and riders at both the British Superbike Championship and International road races, including PBM Ducati, John McGuinness, KTS Racing and Jackson Racing. He is also heavily involved with the Isle of Man TT Races working with the race organisation, writing official press releases and race reports as well as providing the TV and radio broadcasting teams with statistical information.