Dean Harrison: Competition at Isle of Man TT ‘making life very difficult’

Honda rider Dean Harrison says the competitive landscape at the Isle of Man TT now “makes life very difficult” as he gears up for his second year with Honda.

Last year’s Isle of Man TT saw three different solo riders - Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman and Davey Todd - take to the top step of the podium, while the likes of Harrison and Josh Brookes breached the rostrum in the big bike classes.

Harrison is a three-time winner at the event and has been a regular frontrunner for years, positioning himself as one of the TT’s ‘big four’ names.

Looking ahead to TT 2025, he notes that competition is better than it has ever been and is only growing.

“You look at the current crop of riders and the competition is probably as fast as it’s ever been, and there’s more people in a smaller space of time, which makes life very difficult,” he said during the TT Live podcast recording.

Dean Harrison ‘brought a knife to a gunfight’ at TT 2024

Last year saw Harrison swap Kawasaki machinery for Honda bikes when he joined the works team for the brand alongside John McGuinness.

The Honda team had a trouble-filled preparation for the TT, as delays in parts meant it didn’t have its full compliment of bikes for the North West 200 just weeks before the Isle of Man event.

Harrison battled problems on his Honda Superbike during practice week at the TT, which meant he had to race it with a Superstock engine - likening this to bringing “a knife to a gun fight”.

Despite his woes, he came away from TT 2024 with four podiums.

“I didn’t feel like I got the best out of the Superbike last year, with getting moved between classes and stuff like that, because we started the season quite fast on the Superbike at BSB level,” he said.

“And then it sort of got switched because of parts and stuff.

“The North West 200 unfortunately we only had one Superstock bike, there was a delay in parts getting the Suprsport and Superbike built.

“We got to the TT  and we had issues with the Superbike.

“So we ran a Superstock engine in a Superbike chassis, which when you’re trying to compete against Pete [Hickman], Michael [Dunlop], Davey [Todd], if you’ve not got the same speed and pace out of your bike as they do, if you have your bike and they have their bike, you feel sometimes you’re bringing a knife to a gun fight.”