This Was Not the Honda Dean Harrison Expected to Ride Back to the IoM TT Pits!
When the #3 Honda Superbike of Isle of Man TT star Dean Harrison broke down during qualifying, he was forced to commandeer alternative transport
Dean Harrison swapped his expired race bike for a road bike when his Honda Superbike expired in 2024 Isle of Man TT qualifying.
The TT Mountain Course being what it is, doesn’t have a service road - like you might get at Mugello or Jerez, for example. And, even if it did, the distance you have to cover to get back to the pits from pretty much the entire circuit between Bray Hill and Governors’ Dip means that the usual ‘tog’s scooter isn’t going to cut it for the trip back.
The first season of the No Room for Error documentary featured a story from Davey Todd about riding an enduro bike across fields to get back to the pits after his Honda broke.
Now-factory-Honda rider Dean Harrison stayed appropriately on-brand when he had to find his way back on Wednesday evening.
His Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP Superbike had expired on his first lap in the Superbike/Superstock practice, but he needed to get back for the upcoming Supersport practice, and to try to fit a lap in on his Superstock bike.
Fortunately, Harrison found a Honda CBR600RR and an owner who apparently happily rode pillion while Harrison rode it back to the Honda Racing UK pits.
Harrison got back just in time to head back out on his Superstock Fireblade and he went fourth-fastest in the Superstock rankings with the one and only lap he managed. In Supersport, the Bradford rider finished seventh.
In general, the TT is not going entirely to plan currently for Harrison. Competitive in Superstock, the #3 is missing time and speed on both the Superbike and Supersport machines. Ahead of Thursday practice, Harrison has completed only two full timed laps on his Superbike (and two in Monday's untimed free practice), which came on Monday, and his best Supersport lap (set on Wednesday) is over 2mph off Michael Dunlop’s best (also set on Wednesday after he switched from a Triumph Street Triple 765 to a Yamaha R6).
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Lead image credit: Bennetts/Instagram.
Alex has been working in the motorcycle industry for as long as he has been at Visordown, which has been since March 2022 so we'll let you work it out from there. He's the new guy. He'd be fetching us all coffee 'round the clock if he wasn't based in the arse end of nowhere.
