Double Podium opens Race Week for Honda Racing at 2025 Isle of Man TT
Honda Racing contested two races on the opening day of Race Week at this year’s Isle of Man TT and brought home trophies from each of them. Dean Harrison claimed third place on the Honda Fireblade in the morning Superbike race and then went one better to finish as runner-up in the Supersport class on his Honda CBR600RR.
Glorious sunshine greeted the TT crowds who have gathered from around the world in Douglas, and they thronged the 37.7-mile Mountain Circuit in anticipation of the first race of this two-week event. The scheduled start time was delayed by 45 minutes in order to allow officials the chance to clear up two separate oil spills on the course, after which the event was able to continue.
Honda Racing’s 23-time TT winner John McGuinness MBE led the field away from Number 1 position, his Fireblade in full voice as he accelerated away from the celebrated starting line on Glencrutchery Road. Harrison followed soon afterwards and immediately underlined the pace of the team by taking the early lead.
The team around him supported Harrison’s charge to the fullest, with one of the fastest pit stops at the end of lap two to refuel and replace the rear tyre, which was completed in 55 seconds.
In the end, the Yorkshireman claimed third place with a best lap average speed of 132.955 mph. McGuinness meanwhile brought the crowd to its feet with a rousing performance as he climbed from 14th to seventh and set an average speed lap of 131.173 mph. Showing the strength of the Fireblade, privateer entries ensured that seven out of the top 10 finishers were all mounted on Hondas.
After a brief pause, the team returned to action supporting Harrison’s solo campaign on the Honda CBR600RR in the Supersport category. Once again, the lead was taken strongly and this time was held until two-thirds distance. In the end, second place was earned against the larger capacity machinery in the category.
Racing continues until the Senior TT on Saturday, 7th June. For a full schedule of the event, please click here
Dean Harrison
“I got stuck in from the start in both races. On the Superbike, I just struggled with a bit of stability but it’s getting better and better all the time. I feel like we keep improving it in various areas. We’ve got a few areas to look at and hopefully we can keep finding little things that will get us a little bit better again as the week goes on. We’ve got some data to go through! I definitely think we can find a bit. The 600 I was splitting the screen from the start, it was absolutely flat-out and there wasn’t an inch of track that I didn’t use. As John (McGuinness) just said, I paid my entry fee so I might as well use it. I think the data shows that more than 80 per cent of the lap is at full throttle. The weather was better than I thought it was going to be, dry and less wind for the Superbike in the morning and it stayed dry in the afternoon so it was good. I’m happy that we got two podiums for the team, it’s nice for them, so you can say that is thanks to them because they have worked flat-out all week to be fair. It’s nice to pay them back a little bit with that and we’ll keep trying to do the same all week.”
John McGuinness MBE
“The oil was tricky for my race as first bike out on the road. It’s the same for everybody, you just don’t know, do you, the first time you go into it. You just see who’s the bravest and the oil at Bray Hill was fine. The oil up on the mountain was okay but, once everybody on that first lap got through it, we knew where it was and we could just ride up on the inside of it. But conditions as a whole were really good. Considering that the whole lot got washed away with rain overnight I think the grip level was alright and after a lap you could see the lines and it just got better and better through the race. We got away with the wind. I think the organisers did a good job today. After the weather in Practice Week and the way it’s blowing now this evening, what else is going to get thrown at us with this TT. To get a four-lap Superbike race, a two-lap Sidecar race and a three-lap Supersport race, a full day, completed in these conditions with everyone in one piece is a great result for the organisers. I’m pleased for the team that they’ve got two podiums and for me a 131 mph lap at the end of the race was going in the right direction. It was a bit of a steady start, I need a bit of a rocket up my backside at the start! I just don’t find the groove for a bit and then seem to get going as the race goes along a bit. But I never made any mistakes, everything was good, I was enjoying everything, the pit stops were mint and I wasn’t tired in the race. It shows I wasn’t tired because I did my fastest lap on the last lap. I’m old school, I’m a ‘cup of tea and a biscuit’ man, and when I started racing round here there were no energy supplements. Havier, the boss, has drilled it into me to death about the importance of having the right hydration and supplements and I’m okay - but it was nice to get a dirty Cornish pastie in me after the race, that went down a treat! The bike never missed a beat and we’ve got a few ideas to improve it for the Senior TT towards the end of the week but climbing from 14th to seventh in the race I’m really pleased with. We’ve all sort of woken up.”
Team Manager Havier Beltran
“Two podiums from two races and three motorcycles running without issue are encouraging statistics for the end of our first day’s racing. Dean put absolutely everything into his races today, he left nothing on the table and it’s tremendous for me and the engineers to have that benchmark to work from, when you know that every lap he’s getting the very most out of the bike. John also really impressed me with his performance today, he sailed past 130 mph and got off the bike looking fresh and ready to go again. The team has put in a lot of hours, worked through a lot of areas of the bike, to get our performance level up from the first day of practice to now, and I look forward to continuing in the same way over the coming days.”
