TT 2016: Harrison thrilled with return to TT podium

Bradford’s Dean Harrison was thrilled to return to the TT podium for the first time in two years with two second places in Monday’s Supersport and Superstock races.

The Silicone Engineering rider was beaten by Ian Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop on track in the 600 outing, but was promoted to second place following Dunlop’s dramatic exclusion from the result.

In the Superstock race, he made significant ground on second-placed James Hillier to close the gap to just 0.2 sec on the final lap and eventually beat his Kawasaki rival by just under two seconds.

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The return to form couldn’t have come at a better time for Harrison, who endured a tough TT with the Mar-Train Yamaha squad last year.

“Hutchy and Michael are two of the best road racers in the world so I’m not going to start whinging about being beaten,” he told MCN after the race. “I felt really comfortable in the Supersport race and I could have pushed on quicker but once they get the gap on you with this level of racing you just can’t do anything about it. I got in to a rhythm, sat in third and had a bit of a gap so we just went from there.

“In the stock race when I saw the gap was nothing on the board I gave it my all and got the result, I’m over the moon. I had a fifth in the Superbike race and now two seconds, I can’t complain at that! We definitely have more in the tank for Wednesday but it’s crucial to get a good start, you can’t give these boys anything!”