NW200 - Revised practice and qualifying for Honda Racing UK
Following a fatality in the morning practice session, the evening races at the NW200 were replaced with further qualifying sessions ahead of a full race day on Saturday. Honda Racing UK wishes to extend its sincere condolences to the family, team and friends of the rider involved.
In the revised Superbike session, Dean Harrison qualified in pole position with a lap time of 04:19.1mins. Judging changeable conditions with confidence and precision, Harrison's crew chief, Stuart Millan, made some small changes to gearing that allowed Dean to put in an early performance that outpaced the rest of the field.
John McGuinness MBE qualified in tenth position with a lap time of 04:27.4mins, leaving him in a striking position for a podium finish in the premier class.
Superstock qualifying conditions were tougher to call thanks to the temperature dropping and winds gusting. Dean finished the session in third position with a 04:24.338min lap and John rounded out the top ten with a 04:30.386min lap
In the Supersport class, Dean Harrison and the CBR600RR finished the session with a 04:39.202min lap, placing them third in the class. Fresh from the successful first round in the British Supersport Championship, Dean looked comfortable and confident, which bodes well for race fans in the exciting middleweight class.
Team Manager Scot Hargreaves
Given some challenging conditions in what has been quite a tough day, I think the team pulled some really solid results together. You can't ask for much more than a pole position and it was great to see Dean deliver that.His riding is a reflection of his presence, he's comfortable riding at the front, he's had a great first round in the British Supersport Championship and he's showing his worth. I'm really excited to see how he converts this quality qualifying performance into race day results.John McGuinness put in an excellent performance, I know he'd be happier with a little bit more, but that's what makes John who he is. He's proved over the last 12 months that he can still run PB pace at BSB circuits and it wasn't too long ago that he was on the podium here. If he has a good day on Saturday, we'll all have a good day.
Dean Harrison
Tough conditions to deal with out there. No two laps were ever really the same because of the wind and the rain. I pushed where I could and the team were rewarded with a fastest time on one bike and two third place positions on the others. It's difficult to explain how exciting it is dealing with wheel spin at 180 mph here, but that's what we did. I'm confident and relaxed, maybe because we had a good start to the year at Oulton Park, I'm not sure. If we get the right weather, the racing is going to be pretty special on Saturday, my aim is to give the team what they deserve.
John McGuinness MBE
I'm happy with my performance on both bikes. Of course I'd have liked to have finished further up the time sheets but I'm enjoying my riding and that's what matters. Getting out on that coast road on the big Superbike is such an incredible feeling and even after all these years, it never gets old. It's a fast circuit here, you can't take your eye off the ball for a second but I was able to relax and deal with the changing conditions thanks to the two bikes the team has built around me. I'll give it everything on race day and hope the fans that have set up all the way around the circuit enjoy the show we put on for them.
As at publishing, the race day schedule and grid positions had yet to be released. Please keep an eye on Honda Racing UK socials for announcements.