Dean Harrison completes Isle of Man TT Superstock double: ‘I can go fast, I've proved that'
Harrison took advantage of Davey Todd's pit-stop woe when the 8TEN Racing rider struggled to restart his BMW machine, losing approximately 12 seconds, while fellow top rival Michael Dunlop had more issues with his MD Racing BMW after an electronics problem in the first race.
Harrison won the three-lap Opul Superstock race – delayed from 10:45am until 2:30pm because of damp patches – by 16 seconds from a disappointed Todd, who had 32 seconds in hand over Dunlop.
'Massive thanks to the whole team and Honda, everyone's put a brilliant bike together and it's great to see the Honda Fireblade on P1,' said Harrison.
'We're constantly trying to adapt. Everyone's in the same boat here, really, it's such a difficult place. Trying to set your bike up around here is a bit of a compromise.
'We had a little bit of a stability issue which we've near enough cured now, and it just means that I can ride the bike how I want to ride the bike.
'I can go fast, I've proved that this week; I just need a bit of luck on my side on the day and here we are.'
Harrison's wins are his first at the TT since 2019 and the Isle of Man-based Bradford man could not hide his elation in the winners' enclosure.
'Words can't describe it,' he added.
'I'm absolutely over the moon to get two wins in the Superstock race.
'I got off to a real hard start, I read my pit board and I was P1, P2, and P1 over the Mountain. I saw P1 +13 coming out of Glen Helen on lap two, I thought 'Oh'.
'I carried on as hard as I could and thought, 'I'll carry on this lap to try and manage that, if I can keep that lead the same there's no way someone's going to make 13 or 14 seconds on me in a lap'.
'So, I just kept my head down and I got to P1 +20, and I just read my board from there and just managed it and sort of knocked it off a little bit on the last lap and just brought it home.'
Todd won last year's only Superstock race but the Saltburn-by-the-Sea man had to settle for the runner-up spot again after finishing second in the opening race.
'Another frustrating one,' Todd said. 'I'm just disappointed.
'I really felt like we could challenge for that win there, made some improvements to the bike. Then it didn't start in the pit-stop – not a clue why.
'I had the same thing last year, for a different reason, but it just wouldn't start.
'I felt like I had a really steady first lap and we were in the mix there.
'I guess I half-gave-up [after the pit stop] because you're not going to reel that time back on someone like Dean [Harrison] when he's riding the way he is.'
Dunlop was equally dismayed after struggling on the first lap especially with his BMW, when Dunlop dropped to 20th by Glen Helen after running on at Braddan.
'I don't know what's going on, we tried everything but something's not working for some reason,' he said.
'Then I ran on – I just couldn't get a gear – I ran on at Braddan and then I knew that was the race [over] after that.
'You can't drop time against these boys and it was just damage limitation after that.'
Ian Hutchinson had been in the hunt for a podium on the opening lap before retiring on the MLav Racing BMW.
Fourth went to James Hillier on the Muc-Off Honda from Conor Cummins on the Burrows/RK Racing BMW, while Australian Josh Brookes rounded out the top six on the Jackson Racing Honda. Brookes' team-mate Paul Jordan was forced out with a problem.
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