Michael Dunlop comes full circle: at the Classic TT, following in his father Robert's footsteps

The Classic Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man will close the 2026 road racing calendar in grand style. Lining up on historic machinery will be all the current TT stars as well, and of course the king of this era won’t be missing: Michael Dunlop. Bringing us yet another deeply evocative family story.

The race program kicks off on Monday, August 16, concurrently with the Manx TT, the series reserved for road racing amateurs. In the Classic, however, the big names will race too: John McGuinness, Dean Harrison, and Michael Dunlop, to name the most victorious. MD has won the TT 36 times on the Mountain Circuit.

In the Lightweight class we’ll see GP-era 250 two-strokes from the roaring years out on the roads, and that alone would be enough. The most evocative aspect, though, is another: Michael Dunlop will race with Padgett’s Honda RS, the very team with which his father Robert contested the 1994 TT. Padgett’s is one of the cornerstones of British motorcycling; particularly in the ’80s and ’90s it was a powerhouse also involved in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.

Naturally enthusiastic about this nostalgia project is team owner Clive Padgett. “Working with Michael, besides being an honor, will take us back to the mid-’90s, when we ran his father. We’ve always had a very close relationship with the Dunlop family and we can’t wait to fire up the Honda 250 again, even if I feel a bit sorry for Bruce—it’s been his baby for many years...” The team boss is referring to New Zealander Bruce Anstey, a TT star for so many years, who won the Classic TT three times with this very bike. Michael Dunlop knows it well, because he already won this same race last year, in record time.

Michael Dunlop will contest the Lightweight on the very same Honda RS 250 that his father Robert was riding during practice for the 2008 North West 200. Due to a seizure he lost control in the ultra-fast Mother Cross corner and lost his life.

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