DEAN HARRISON FEELS HIS MOVE TO HONDA RACING SETS HIM UP FOR HIS MAIDEN SUPERBIKE VICTORY AT THE 2024 BRIGGS EQUIPMENT NORTH WEST 200

It will be all change for Yorkshire’s Dean Harrison at this year’s Briggs Equipment North West 200 on May 6-11 after his move from the DAO Racing Kawasaki team to the official Honda Racing squad.

“I can’t knock the DAO team in anyway.” the 35 year old, who has ridden Kawasakis since 2016, said during a recent visit to Portrush where he inspected the 8.9 mile North West 200 course with race boss, Mervyn Whyte.

“The bikes were good and the team was good but to be offered a Honda factory ride? Let’s say I stop racing in the next five to ten years and I look back and think I was offered the Honda ride and didn’t take it. I think I’d kick myself. It is an opportunity too good to pass on and I might never get an opportunity like it again so I’ll try to make the most of it.”

The shift to Honda machinery marks a major change of direction for Harrison and he admits he has a lot to get used to after a busy winter that has also seen the Bradford man relocate with his family to Laxey on the Isle of Man.

“Everything feels completely different at Honda with so many new people in the team and so much going on.” he says.

“There must be 20 people there and I don’t know who to ask for what yet. It is still a little bit up in the air for me but it will settle down. Sometimes you just need a kick up the arse. I’ve been competitive on the DAO bikes and not been far away but it is nice to have a bit of a change.”

Harrison will also have two new motorcycles to race this year with the latest versions of the Fireblade superbike and the CBR600RR he will ride in the Supersport class.

“That there are new bikes was another reason to go to Honda.” he says.

“Two new bikes to start afresh with, to develop and make better. That is another challenge I am looking forward to.”

Harrison will pick up where he left off with DAO Racing by continuing to compete in the British Superbike series alongside new Honda teammates, Tommy Bridewell, the reigning BSB champion, and Andrew Irwin.  On the roads he will join his namesake, Nathan Harrison and Honda legend, John McGuinness whose vast experience the Bradford rider hopes to benefit from.

“I haven’t worked with John yet but I know he brings a bit of everything with his experience and advice.” Harrison explains.

“When someone has been there and done it, they know what to do in any situation.”

But Honda’s new recruit knows only too well that his principal job will be to revive the company’s fortunes at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT as McGuinness, the team’s aging stalwart, has dropped off the pace set by Harrison himself and rivals like Peter Hickman and Michael Dunlop.

That leading trio has dominated superbike racing at the TT during recent seasons but aside from occasional flashes of brilliance, Harrison admits they have largely played second fiddle to Glenn Irwin and Alastair Seeley at the NW200.

Harrison, who has yet to win a Superbike race at Portrush despite his success in the class at the TT and Ulster Grand Prix, says he is determined to change that situation this year with Honda.

“I suppose not winning at the North West has been down to my lack of commitment on the coast road on the last lap.” he smiles as he points out that so much comes down to the luck of the draw in the fearsome slipstreaming battles along the North West’s long straights.

“I need to be more aggressive, to get myself into the right place at the right time because you can be part of a big train slipstreaming on the straights and you can go from first to sixth on that last lap. You could be sat there, head down, and the next thing five bikes have passed you!”

“It can be frustrating if you end up not making the podium but it is fun at the same time, especially if you are going the other way, from fifth or sixth to first. I think that is what makes the North West so good to watch.”
Having finished third in both Superbike battles and the Saturday Superstock race at last year’s North West, Harrison is confident he will have the pace with Honda to spoil the Glenn Irwin party come May when the winner of the last eight Superbike races on the north coast attempts to break the record of nine big bike wins at the event held by Joey Dunlop and Michael Rutter.

“I will definitely be trying.” Harrison says.

“We were close last year, up in the top three, all fighting close together, so I know I have the pace to have a go and I will definitely be trying to win one.”