John McGuinness rolls back the years with P1 in Classic TT qualifying

After seeing Michael Dunlop dominate the opening Historic Senior qualifying session for the 2026 Classic TT, John McGuinness rolled back the years by topping Thursday afternoon’s second session.

McGuinness was the only rider to set an average lap time over the 110mph bracket, with the 23-time Isle of Man TT winner setting a speed of 111.750mph on his second lap. 

Dean Harrison completed just one lap aboard his Craven Classic Racing/Ted Woof Norton, although his lap time of 108.044mph was good enough for second place.

Making his first appearance in the iconic Milenco by Padgetts colours, Dunlop secured top spot in the Lightweight class, which was run alongside the Ultra Lightweight category as part of the same qualifying session.

Riders were initially held following a ten-minute delay, but once the session got started, Dunlop rose to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a lap time of 116.470mph. This was good enough to beat Paul Jordan by 0.235s. 

In the Formula One class, Nathan Harrison turned his P2 placing from Wednesday into top spot after setting a time of 124.721mph. The Greenall Racing Kawasaki rider ended the session less than a tenth clear of team-mate Jamie Coward.

Dunlop made a late start to the session, which potentially cost him vital track time in his bid to close in on the times set by Harrison and Coward. 

Despite the late start aboard his Team Classic Suzuki machine, Dunlop moved into third spot initially, before David Johnson relegated him to fourth late on. 

Brian McCormack, who topped Wednesday’s Formula One session, was only eighth fastest in yesterday afternoon’s session.

Despite the weather staying clear for much of the afternoon, organisers were forced to cancel the evening sessions due to rain drifting in. The action will continue today with roads set to close at 11:30am, with a total of three qualifying sessions due to take place.

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