Isle of Man TT podium debut for team delights Bradford ace Dean Harrison

The race was held over from Monday due to poor weather on the island, but it eventually got underway at 1.45pm yesterday in perfect conditions.

Harrison cashed in and a superb opening lap of 128.768mph put him second, just over six seconds adrift of Saturday’s Superbike race winner Michael Dunlop.

Despite suffering with a technical issue, Dean’s second lap was quicker still at 128.956mph but Dunlop was able to increase his advantage to almost 14 seconds after setting the fastest lap of the race.

However, a good pit stop by Harrison and a strong opening sector on the third lap brought the margin down to nine seconds with one-and-three-quarter laps remaining.

The Northern Ireland rider wasn’t to be denied though but Harrison had a comfortable margin over third-placed rider Bruce Anstey and completed the four laps and over 150 miles of racing in a brilliant second place - his second podium position around the mountain course and the team’s first in just their second year of TT competition.

Harrison said: “I’m over the moon with second place and just want to say a big thank you to everyone involved with the team.

“Conditions were great but the quickshifter stopped working on the opening lap and I had to completely change my way of riding, rolling the throttle to change gear when normally you can just change without even thinking.

“It compromised my race a bit but once I got used to it and settled into a rhythm, I was still able to lap at almost 129mph, and I can’t ask for much more than second place.

“I had good pit boards all the way round the course and was surprised by how many people I caught on the roads but I passed them all in clean, safe places and couldn’t have finished second to a better man.”

Harrison will be out on the Mar-Train Yamaha in tomorrow’s second Supersport race but will on board the RC Express Racing by MSS Performance machines in Friday’s lightweight and senior races.