HARRISON POWERS TO VICTORY IN RL360 SUPERSTOCK TT
Dean Harrison claimed his fourth TT victory on Tuesday evening, the Honda Racing rider defeating Davey Todd (Monster Energy by 8TEN Racing BMW Motorrad) by 11.6 seconds in the RL360 Superstock TT Race after setting his quickest ever lap of the Mountain Course at 135.692mph.
Michael Dunlop (MD Racing BMW) completed the podium in third - his 47th in total - which equalled the record held by John McGuinness.
Pushed back from 10:45am to a 6:30pm start and cut from three laps to two, it was Todd who grabbed the early initiative, his lead over Harrison at Glen Helen on lap one a slender 0.2 seconds. James Hillier (Muc-Off Racing Honda) was 5.3 seconds further back in third, with Nathan Harrison (H&H Motorcycles Honda) a further 1.2 seconds behind him.
That put him half a second ahead of Dunlop, as Michael Evans (Dafabet Racing Honda) completed the early top six. Only one second covered the riders in fifth to 11th!
Todd’s lead had crept up to one second at Ballaugh and, although Dunlop had moved up to third, he was now ten seconds behind the race leader. Hillier and Nathan Harrison both dropped back a place to fourth and fifth respectively, with Dominic Herbertson (HRRC/Adam Hewitt Ltd Honda) now sixth.
Round Ramsey Hairpin for the first time and the gap had doubled to two seconds, Harrison’s advantage over Dunlop now 13.3 seconds, with Hillier only 1.5 seconds adrift in fourth. Nathan Harrison continued to hold onto fifth, only 0.3 seconds behind Hillier, but it was now Ian Hutchinson (moobob/MLav Racing BMW) in sixth, the leaderboard positions remaining tight.
Todd overhauled Dunlop on the road at the Creg ny Baa and an opening lap of 133.712mph saw him lead the race, but Harrison (133.658mph) had reeled him in on the drop down the Mountain, the gap now just 0.4 seconds. Dunlop (131.061mph) remained in third as Hillier (130.498mph), Nathan Harrison (130.315mph) and Hutchinson rounded out the top six - the latter’s first 130mph+ lap since 2017.
Herbertson (129.949mph), Conor Cummins on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW (129.919mph), and the Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2 pairing of Paul Jordan (129.859mph) and Josh Brookes (129.429mph) were close behind in seventh to tenth.
By the time they reached Glen Helen for the second and final time, Harrison was in front by 2.3 seconds, Dunlop out of it in third as he was now 20 seconds adrift of the race leader. Hillier was still holding onto fourth, his advantage over new fifth-placed rider Hutchinson 2.1 seconds. He, in turn, was now one second ahead of Nathan Harrison.
Taking advantage of the clear road in front of him, Harrison added another second to his lead as he leapt Ballaugh Bridge, and rounding Ramsey Hairpin for the final time, it was up to five seconds, Todd losing time as he encountered traffic on the run from Ginger Hall.
Indeed, the gap had almost doubled as he crossed the tram lines at the Bungalow and, with a second lap of 135.692mph - his best ever lap of the Mountain Course - Harrison swept to his first TT win since the 2019 Senior. It was his first Superstock race win and Honda’s first in the class since 2014.
Todd (134.077mph) and Dunlop (134.081mph) joined him on the podium as Hillier (131.937mph), Hutchinson (131.606mph) and Cummins (131.486mph) rounded out the top six. Nathan Harrison (130.840mph) ended up seventh ahead of Herbertson (131.182mph), Brookes (130.760mph) and James Hind, who lapped at a superb 132.152mph on the North Lincs Components Honda. Michael Evans finished 11th as he too set his first 130mph+ lap, 130.094mph.
