The 2026 Isle of Man TT lost a full day of racing as fog blanketed the Mountain section of the Mountain Course, forcing organisers to cancel a scheduled race day and reschedule the six-lap RST Superbike opener for Sunday.
With cloud sitting low over Bungalow and Ramsey, the medical helicopter that governs whether the TT can run was unable to fly, and the call was made to abandon racing rather than gamble on a weather window that never arrived. Organisers retain flexibility early in race week, and a settled forecast for Sunday offered hope of a clean run.
The enforced wait does little to dampen the momentum of Dean Harrison, who has topped the timesheets through qualifying and arrives as the man to beat. The five-time TT winner has looked unhurried all week aboard his Honda.
"It's been a good week all around and all the bikes really have been there all week," Harrison said. "Shame we didn't get going today, it would've been nice to have a race under our belt, but we can't complain. I don't think the weather's been on our side all week."
Harrison was visibly irritated to have been pulled in before completing a flying qualifying lap that was on for a strong time. "I wanted to go to the line," he said. "I always like to go to the line regardless if it's a fast lap or not. I hate pulling in the return road." Rather than dent his confidence, the missed lap has only sharpened his intent: "If I can do six of those tomorrow, hopefully I'm there or thereabouts."
Much of Harrison's form this year stems from an unconventional machine. Rather than a full-house superbike, he has built what he calls a hybrid — a near-standard Honda fitted with a kit electronics package, a quick-change rear, slightly stronger engine and better brakes, but retaining a standard road-bike gearbox.
"I want to build a hybrid bike," Harrison recalled telling his team. "I think this is the way forward to make a reliable bike, hopefully, but easier to ride. It takes less out of you as a rider. And if you can take less out of you, and the bike's easy to ride and it's faster, it's actually quicker through the speed trap." The standard road bike, he insists, is "unbelievable" — good enough that only the screen, too small for a tall rider at speed, counts as a genuine downside.
Harrison's path to the front of the TT was anything but typical. A car mechanic at a Volvo dealership until his late twenties, he funded his early racing himself, borrowing bikes for his first laps of the Mountain Course before turning professional. "There's people out there got bigger problems than I've got," he said. "I always try to look on the bright side of life, because I'm living the dream really."
The paddock does not expect him to have it all his own way. Michael Dunlop, the most successful rider in TT history, and British Superbike regular Josh Brooks are among those tipped to push Harrison hard once the Superbikes finally line up — and a lap record may yet fall if the island delivers the weather the riders deserve.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/isle-of-man-tt-2026-weather-cancels-opener-dean-harrison). Visit for full coverage.*
