Bradford ace suffers at Knockhill after Isle of Man heroics

Harrison was competing in the fourth round of this season’s Bennetts British Superbikes Championship up in Scotland, having scored two points finishes last time out at Donington Park.

That third meeting of the Superbikes season in Derbyshire was sandwiched between arguably the two most prestigious road race events of the year, the North West 200 and the TT.

And a tuned-in Harrison took his Honda to 11th and 13th place finishes there last month.

That gave him eight of his nine points for the season, having claimed his first one by finishing 15th at the Circuito de Navarra in Spain during the opening Superbikes meet of the year.

But Harrison was less successful at Knockhill last Saturday and Sunday, coming 19th and 17th in the first two races to finish narrowly outside of the points places.

And he was unable to finish in style either, retiring from the final race of the weekend after only seven of the 22 laps.

The Bradfordian is unlikely to be too alarmed by his performances, with his road racing prowess what he is known for, rather than his exploits on the track.

And he showed all of that skill in the Isle of Man earlier this month, having made a bright start to the TT by coming third in the opening Supersport and Superbike races of the meeting.

Dean Harrison riding confidently around the streets of Isle of Man that he knows so well. (Image: Chris Hartley/chrissipix.)

Harrison missed out on a podium in the Thursday Superstock race, coming home in fourth just over three seconds behind third-placed rival Michael Dunlop.

But the Bradford ace enjoyed his best result of the weekend in his next race, the second Supersport meeting of the week.

He finished second to Dunlop, less than four seconds behind the winner when he crossed the line.

That meant there was one race to go, the showpiece Senior TT later that day.

In a dramatic turn of events, two of the main contenders for victory, Dunlop and Peter Hickman, retired and crashed respectively early on in the race.

That allowed Davey Todd to storm to a near 40-second victory, with Josh Brookes coming home in second and Harrison third on his Honda Racing UK machine.

The TT also welcomed back Bingley ace Ian Hutchinson.

And while the 44-year-old did not hit anywhere near the heights of Harrison in terms of his race results, it was great to see him back.

The 'Bingley Bullet' suffered a stroke last February, meaning he was forced to spend a year away from the sport, but he has now returned, competing in both the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT this year.

Hutchinson has won 16 races at the TT in his career, his last triumph there being in the Superstock class at the 2017 event.