Passing Davey Todd a “struggle” for Dean Harrison at North West 200

A second place for Dean Harrison in the opening Superbike race at the North West 200 came with some frustration at not being able to pass for the lead.

Davey Todd was victorious in the opening Superbike race, the 8Ten BMW rider describing it as a “special” win.

Harrison was Todd’s closest challenger throughout the race, but was unable to ever get to the front as a result of straight line stability issues whenever he would try to pull out of the slipstream.

“I followed him [Hickman] into York on lap one and he sort of overshot and we both went wide, and he [Todd] got a break on so I got my head down to bridge the gap and pull him back in,” Harrison told BBC Sport NI after the Superbike race on Thursday.

“But I was really struggling to make the pass; I had the slipstream but I was getting buffeted about so much.”

He added: “I was sat there trying to figure out where I was going to pass him. I was struggling, I thought ‘I’ll have a go into Juniper on the last lap’, and I ran real deep.

“I was struggling to get the drive out of Black Hill to get on the back of him, so I need to look at that for Saturday.”

Harrison was content with the second place, though, saying: “It’s a good start to the week, so thanks to everyone at Honda, they’ve given me a great bike.”

“Struggling to shift” in Superstock Race 1

Harrison was back on the podium in the Superstock race having missed out in fourth in Supersport.

He admitted to having a poor start, dropping back to fifth place or so in the first corners.

The Honda Racing UK rider was eventually able to make his way up to second, passing Ian Hutchinson after Hickman ran long at Magherabuoy and Davey Todd overshot University when he was passed by Michael Dunlop, who went on to win – Harrison admitting after the race that he simply didn’t have anything left to fight against Dunlop.

“I didn’t get off to a very good start, I was back in eighth and I thought ‘I’ve got some work to do here to try and chip my way forward’,” Harrison said after the Superstock race.

“Pete [Peter Hickman] overshot at Magherabuoy I think and then Davey [Todd] overshot at University, and that was two so that was good and then I just sort of picked my way through a bit.

“Then, I had nothing left at the end, to be fair, so that was it. I didn’t know how close they were behind me, so I carried on going to the end.”

Harrison added that a technical issue had cost him practice time on the Superstock bike, and he was struggling to shift in the first three gears.

“We missed half the [practice] session on the Superstock bike, we had a little technical problem so we went out there into a bit of an unknown.,” he said.

“I was struggling to shift, the first three gears I’m struggling with so we need to go back to the drawing board tomorrow and make that a bit slicker for Saturday.”