Dean Harrison wins first TT race, joins 6-wins club

Dean Harrison (Honda CBR1000RR-R) won the first of this year’s Isle of Man TT Races.

Harrison, who had already shown a very fast pace in qualifying sessions, took the win in the RST Superbike race, his sixth TT victory, in front of Peter Hickman (BMW M1000RR) and Michael Dunlop (Honda CBR1000RR-R).

Harrison set the fastest lap of the race at 134.892 mph (217.088 km/h), joining the six-win club that includes names such as Jimmy Guthrie, Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Jim Redman, and Chas Birks.

Harrison’s debut and so far only participation in the Macau Grand Prix took place in 2017, when the Bradford rider entered the 51st edition of the local GP.

The race saw Hickman, already a Macau GP legend, exchange positions with TT legend Dunlop for most of the race while Harrison was gaining momentum at the front.

In the end, Harrison led Hickman at the flag by 15.5 seconds, a strong result for Hickman, who is returning from injury. Dunlop completed the podium, some 12.4s behind Hickman.

Completing the top five were Josh Brookes and John McGuinness, who ran a special livery on his Honda, turning back the clock to the 1996 look.

After the race, interviewed by TT+, Harrison said that he felt good and very confident on the bike, noting that Honda Racing had done a wonderful job in preparing the bike “just the way he liked it” for the race.

Races to continue after delay

Isle of Man TT organizers have confirmed a revised race schedule that includes Race 1 of the Superstock class, which was postponed on Saturday due to weather conditions.

Low clouds were cited as the cause of the delays, which affected riders mainly on the mountain section, before deteriorating weather conditions led to the race being moved to this week.

Organizers decided not to use Monday’s contingency session as a slot for the Superstock race, giving riders and teams a day off before today’s [Macau time] action.

If all goes as planned, the race will take place in the early hours of today.