Dean Harrison’s strategy for the RST Superbike TT worked to perfection after the Honda Racing rider broke the opposition with two 134mph laps in a blistering start.

Harrison set his fastest lap of the race on the first lap from a standing start at 134.892mph and followed up with a second lap at 134.765mph, opening a lead of more than 24 seconds over Ulsterman Michael Dunlop.

The 37-year-old was able to manage his race pace over the final four laps as Harrison clinched his sixth TT victory in commanding fashion by 15.580s from Peter Hickman (8TEN Racing BMW), with Dunlop third on his MD/Hawk Racing Honda, 12.416s further in arrears after 226.38 miles of racing.

Ominously for his rivals ahead of the Superstock races and next Saturday’s blue riband Senior TT, Harrison said he had “a bit left in the tank” after a dominant display in the opening race of the 2026 festival.

placeholder image — Dean Harrison (Honda Racing) on his way to victory in the RST Superbike race at the Isle of Man TT on Sunday. (Photo by Rod Neill/Pacemaker Press)

“I’ve had good pace all week so I just went out of the box quite fast and got stuck in at the start,” said Harrison.

“I’ve got a bit left in the tank to be honest and I feel like I can go bit better. I got a good lead and just sort of controlled it from there really.

“I had really good pit boards so I have to say a massive thanks to everybody today who did my pit boards, they were absolutely brilliant. I read my boards the whole way around the course and I knew where I was at all times.

“I feel good for six laps and I feel quite fresh to be honest.”

Harrison paid tribute to the Honda Racing team after they built his Superbike machine to his personal specification – a decision that paid dividends.

“Massive thanks to all the Honda team because the bike never missed a beat the whole race,” he added.

“They took a bit of a gamble because I asked them to build this bike for me and they sort of looked at me, but they’ve gone away and built it, and we’ve won the Superbike race which is quite good.

“Massive thanks to all the marshals because without them we wouldn’t be able to race around the greatest course in the world, and all the fans, everybody was waving the whole way around, so big thanks to everyone who was putting their arms over the fence and giving me the thumb because it means the absolute world to me.”

Harrison’s team-mate and 23-time TT winner John McGuinness finished the race in a strong fifth place, earning praise from the winner.

“John’s rode well all week and it’s absolutely amazing,” said Harrison.

“It’s such a team effort from Honda and we all try our best and that’s what makes results like this possible.”

After winning both Superstock races for Honda in 2025, Sunday’s Superbike success was the icing on the cake for Harrison, who is now in his third season with the factory team.

“I’m absolutely over the moon with that so I don’t know what to say to be honest,” he said.

“The last lap was a really long lap and I made a couple of mistakes and slowed up a little bit, I knocked a little bit of rpm out of the bike and rolled the throttle in places to try and save the bike, so I’m absolutely over the moon.”

Monday is a rest day on the Isle of Man, with racing resuming on Tuesday with the opening Supersport and Sportbike races.