Isle of Man TT 2025: Dunlop dominance, untouchable Crowes, and rain

Weather rains on TT’s parade

It's hard to talk about TT 2025 without mentioning the weather. While it was rarely sodden, certainly not by the scenes seen in 1998, the rain and wind came just enough to ensure disruption was never too far away.

It all started on the opening day, with rain beginning to fall literally moments before the opening practice session was due to start (and while newcomers were completing their initial laps). Such was the lack of practice that racing was delayed by 48 hours, starting on Monday with a Superbike/Sidecar/Supersport triple-header.

The weather continued to wreak havoc into race week, with only three races — the second Supersport, Superstock and Supertwin races — running to their full scheduled distances. Heavy overnight rain, high winds and a poor forecast removing contingency possibilities meant, after a Course Inspection lap and lengthy consultations with riders, organisers had no option but to cancel the Senior TT.

Hickman misses out with injury

While poor weather conditions hampered a lot of one-track running, there were noticeably fewer red flag incidents this year than in previous fortnights. That being said, incidents did still occur and a couple of big names were found missing from the start lists come race week following qualifying spills.

The biggest of these was Peter Hickman, who came off at 140mph through the Kerrowmoar section of the Mountain Course. The 14-time TT winner suffered chest, back, shoulder and facial injuries after his 8TEN Racing BMW M1000RR was seen to be running with a loose fairing in qualifying moments before his accident. Hickman was back in the paddock just four days later, celebrating team-mate and team co-owner Davey Todd’s victory in the winner’s enclosure from his wheelchair.

Sidecar front-runners Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley also missed out on racing after a terrifying crash in qualifying saw their outfit take off through Rhencullen. Thankfully, both rider and passenger were largely unhurt, suffering “some bumps and scrapes.”

Former TT winner Michael Rutter also suffered an injury in the final Supertwin race of the week, with several fractures in his spine and ankle after crashing heavily at the 31^st Milestone. Other injuries included Tom Weeden in practice, who remains in hospital in a stable condition with back, leg and ankle injuries, Jonathan Goetschy was described as being in a ‘serious but stable’ condition with head, chest and spinal injuries, and Veronika Hankocyova, who continues to receive treatment for head, chest and arm injuries but is in a stable, conscious condition.

Dunlop dominance brings four more wins

Chalking up a further four wins to take his overall tally to 33, Michael Dunlop once again swept the Supersport and Supertwin classes. His Supertwin triumphs came on his trusted Paton, direct from the factory and with pretty much no real challenge. Some grumbles from Superbike TT-winning Davey Todd post-race suggested he feels Dunlop’s Paton is perhaps getting a little more help from the factory than meets the eye, but it would have taken a lot to beat Dunlop in either contest. 

Supersport was a little more challenging for the King of the Mountain as he got to grips with the Ducati Panigale around the TT Course. Ditching his trusty Yamaha after many years at the top, it looked like the gamble wasn’t quite paying off in the first Supersport race. Dean Harrison held the lead at the pitstops of the shortened three-lap race, but from that point on there would only be one person charging to victory. His ten-second win was testament to the quality of Dunlop in a Supersport setting, before stamping his authority with a 26-second win in race two.

Watching the bikes come through, it’s clear where Dunlop makes up both time and speed, tucking himself behind the screen in a way that no other rider seems to be able to. Showing every sign of a rider brought up on 250cc machines, it’s hard to see anyone overhauling the Ballymoney man. With four races across Supersport and Supertwin each year, and when you factor in Joey Dunlop won races long into his 40s (Michael is only 36), there’s every possibility that we could be looking at a 50-time TT winner by 2030.

Harrison and Honda back on top

Dunlop, Hickman and Todd may have been stealing all of the headlines in recent years, but it’s called the ‘Big 4’ for a reason. There were some questions being asked whether Dean Harrison should really be in that conversation — not unlike the questions of whether Andy Murray really was in the Big 4 of Tennis — and his performances on the Fireblade this year absolutely proved he should be.

Harrison and Todd were neck and neck in the opening Superstock race, before the Honda rider pulled off the ride of his life to pull out over ten seconds on the BMW by the line, successfully taming the “wobbly Honda.” While Todd was held up slightly by traffic, Harrison powered around the 37.73-mile course at an average speed of 135.692mph. Not only was that Harrison’s fastest ever lap of the TT Course, but it was also the fastest lap of the week.

Going into the 2025 fortnight, Harrison hadn’t won a race since the 2019 Senior TT, nor had he ever won more than a single race in the same TT. Increasing his total to five wins, the emotion was clear to see both from rider and team in parc ferme after the two races.

Another Honda rider worthy of mentioning is Nathan Harrison, who finally joined the 130mph Club in the opening Superbike race. In fact, he jumped straight into the 131mph Club. Having struggled, by his own admission, with the pressure of the works Honda ride, Harrison looked much more comfortable with his independent set up, proving he is the future of Manx hopes at the TT — at least in the solo category.

Crowes remain untouchable on three wheels

The Sidecar category hasn’t seen a close fight for the win in many years, and 2025 was no different. There was simply no catching the Crowe brothers, who have taken the three-wheel world by storm, both on and off track.

Not only did the two stretch the lap record out to 121.021mph in the opening race, but their outfit looked fast even when stationary. Watching it scream through the towns of Kirk Michael, it was stuck to the ground, confirming the conversations that the pair had worked out a ground effect-style of aerodynamics, although with the Founds/Walmsley incident those conversations are now turning to whether these need to be controlled more tightly.

Worthy of a mention was the newcomer pairing of Kieran Clarke and Andrew Johnson, who set a best lap at 114mph, while Ben and Tom Birchall’s best lap on their debut was 110mph.

Whether it’s Clarke and Johnson, Birchall and Rosney or any of the other podium chasers, hopefully there will be some other outfits stepping up to the Crowe level in 2026 as, while it is very exciting seeing how fast the Manx heroes can go, it’d be much more entertaining to see a close battle for the win.

Michael Evans loses first podium through disqualification

A pair of debut podiums meant the winners’ enclosure after the opening Supertwin race of the week was a highly emotional place. Unfortunately for Michael Evans, who finished second, that elation would soon turn to utter disappointment.

The Dafabet Racing Kawasaki that took Evans to the podium in race one expired while going through Glen Helen on the first lap of race two. As if that wasn’t disappointing enough, the next morning it was announced that Evans had been disqualified from the opening race after his team failed to produce the machine for mandatory post-race technical inspections.

Following scrutineering checks after the first race, the Kawasaki’s engine was sealed and subject to further mandatory examination after the second race. The team did not do so, resulting in disqualification. The team admitted to “a mistake and oversight” in preparation for the races. Evans himself stated he was “devastated” to have his first podium taken away, and that he wouldn’t have gone out on the bike had he known there was any sort of issue.