Before the gates opened
The first blow landed before a wheel had turned in anger on the Mountain Course. Davey Todd, defending Superbike TT winner and one of the most anticipated riders in this year's field, was declared medically unfit on 12 May. Todd had crashed during qualifying at the Daytona 200 in March, fracturing his femur, tibia, foot and nose. He spent weeks in rehabilitation at a specialist clinic in Italy and had returned to riding at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit, but a panel of specialists in emergency medicine, orthopaedics and trauma surgery concluded his bones had not healed sufficiently to cope with the demands of the 37.73-mile Mountain Course. He had already missed the North West 200. He will now focus on 2027.
Todd said he was "absolutely gutted," which was an understatement. He won the Superbike race in 2025 and the Senior TT in 2024. His absence reshapes the Superbike fight entirely.
Monday: a death and a collision that reached the crowd
The event opens with practice, not racing, and the 2026 edition opened with the worst kind of news. On Monday, Alan Oversby, aged 68, from Bolton-le-Sands in Lancashire, was killed during the Classic races held before the TT on the Billown Circuit in the south of the island. Oversby was no newcomer. He had been competing at the event since 2005, won 16 races in total, including two on the Sunday before his death. The Southern 100 organisation extended their deepest sympathy to his wife Julie and his family.
That afternoon, during the combined Superbike and Superstock free practice session on the Mountain Course, a downed motorcycle at the exit of Parliament Square crossed the barriers into the spectator area. Eight spectators were hospitalised. One rider was also taken to Noble's Hospital. By the following morning, six of the eight spectators and the rider had been discharged. Two spectators remained in hospital but were reported as conscious and receiving treatment.
Parliament Square, a tight section of the course in the town of Ramsey where crowds have gathered for decades, was closed to spectators for the remainder of the 2026 event. The evening qualifying sessions, including the first official timed sessions of the week, were cancelled outright.
Tuesday: qualifying begins, another red flag
Qualifying finally got underway on Tuesday evening. Dean Harrison, riding the Honda Racing UK machine, topped the Superbike session with a lap of 133.925 mph. Michael Dunlop was second in Superbike but found form on the Ducati Panigale V2 to top the Supersport session. Josh Brookes went fastest in Superstock. Paul Jordan topped the Sportbike class.
The sidecar session ended under a red flag. Maria Costello MBE and passenger Shaun Parker came off at Brandish on their second lap. Costello, the first woman to have lapped the Mountain Course in excess of 114 mph and a record holder for the fastest female TT lap, was airlifted to Noble's Hospital with head injuries. Parker was taken by ambulance with leg and arm injuries. Both were reported as conscious and talking at the scene. Costello was subsequently transferred to Aintree. The latest update from organisers described her condition as serious but stable.
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Wednesday: the lap times climb
The third day brought sunshine and continued progress on the leaderboard. Harrison remained the fastest overall presence on the course, posting 133.867 mph on his Superstock machine. Dunlop continued to lead Supersport. Peter Hickman, on the 8TEN Racing BMW, set the early Superbike pace in Qualifying 3 ahead of John McGuinness. The evening sidecar session was stopped by red flags shortly after it began following an incident involving reigning TT winners Ryan Crowe and Callum Crowe, though no serious injuries were reported.
The second sidecar red flag of the week in as many days.
The wider field
Peter Hickman races for BMW in Dunlop's absence from the Superbike top tier. Ian Hutchinson has switched to Ducati. John McGuinness, at 52, remains on the grid and posted a Superbike lap in qualifying. CFMOTO is competing at the TT for the first time in 2026. Michael Dunlop is the man to beat on anything with two wheels and a Ducati badge. Nathan Harrison, 27, who fought back from a broken femur and spinal fracture sustained at Donington Park, is targeting his first TT podium.
The film crew
Amazon MGM Studios is on the island shooting a feature film about the TT. Channing Tatum and Eve Hewson are attached to star, with Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment among the producers. Tatum was photographed in full leathers in the paddock this week. The accompanying documentary series was shot in 2024. The feature film is directed by Reid Carolin, from a screenplay by Simon Carolin. The TT has had camera crews before. It has not had this kind of Hollywood infrastructure pointed at it before.
The races begin on Saturday 30 May. Whatever happens between now and the chequered flag on Senior TT day, the 2026 edition has already written more than enough of its own story.
Sources
- Motorcycles.news — Isle of Man TT 2026: Schedule, Riders, Teams and Results
- Crash.net — 2026 Isle of Man TT Results: Qualifying 1
- Crash.net — 2026 Isle of Man TT Results: Qualifying 3 (Wednesday 27 May)
- Crash.net — Isle of Man TT issues fresh update after crash involving spectators
- Crash.net — Maria Costello serious but stable after qualifying accident
- Visordown — Maria Costello in serious but stable condition after TT incident
- Visordown — Isle of Man TT shuts down spectator area after serious incident
- Motorcycle News — Davey Todd declared unfit for 2026 Isle of Man TT
- Isle of Man TT official — Todd declared unfit for TT 2026
- Motorcyclesports.net — Eight spectators hospitalised in serious crash at Isle of Man TT
- BikeSport News — 2026 Isle of Man TT Qualifying Results: Tuesday
- The Race — Davey Todd defending winner ruled out of 2026 TT