Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
TEN WITH<br />
Th e b o y w a s O N IT a t O liv e r ’s<br />
M o u n t ! W in a f t e r w in ...<br />
W O R D S : D A N G E R O U S B R U C E I M A G E S: C H A R L E S ‘ C H A R L IE’ CHARLES<br />
TENMINUTES WITH...<br />
DEAN HARRISON<br />
TELLING ITSTRAIGHT<br />
He’s oneofthe most characterful, honest and talented racers on the TT grid.<br />
And he’s probablythe onlyone who’scrashed aHornetintoaMicra…<br />
ean’s ego’s smaller that agnat’s<br />
penis. Ifitweren’t for the results<br />
Dsheets that prove this TT winner’s<br />
podiumed in every TT class aside from<br />
Superbike, you’d have no other way of really<br />
knowing the talents that lie within. But that’s<br />
the charm behind the humble Yorkshire-born<br />
racer, who met up for abrew (sorry, Guy –I<br />
mean, chief, boss, vicar...), and anatter to<br />
help us get abetter of grasp ofwho he is,<br />
how hethinks and what he makes of this<br />
whole road racing malarkey…<br />
Ialways wanted to do the TT…<br />
The thing was knowing when to go? My first<br />
time was abit of ablur. The thing that really<br />
made ithappen was Ian Bell Motorcycles<br />
gave me an R6 to ride, and that was it. I<br />
flogged the 600cc race bike Ihad and bought<br />
an ’07 R1with the money. Until that point<br />
I’d never even ridden athousand inmylife.<br />
I’d have only been 21.Iwent and did<br />
Scarborough on it, then rocked up at<br />
the TT. There were alot of things winged<br />
that year, but that’s just how itwas.<br />
Ibelieve it’s all in the mind…<br />
If your head’s inthe right place, everything<br />
else goes well. That’s just how itis. Iwas<br />
nervous when Idid my first TT, but the place<br />
was familiar tome. I’d been going over with<br />
my dad, who raced sidecars, since 1993. It<br />
was like asecond home to me. Iknew people<br />
and more importantly Iknew which way the<br />
track went. Iwas familiar with it all, because<br />
we used tojust go over and bang loads of<br />
laps in in the car.<br />
It meant Ifelt really comfortably when I<br />
turned up for my first race. Itwas ahell ofa<br />
thing to take on, especially with such little<br />
racing experience, but it all worked out. I<br />
finished 12th in my first year. That wasn’t<br />
too bad atall.<br />
Idon’t have afavourite bike…<br />
The twin, for example, issmall and easy;<br />
it’s such alaugh because you’re just pinned<br />
everywhere. The 600s are mint too, because<br />
they’re still manageable, but they’re that bit<br />
faster than alightweight machine. They put<br />
up abit more ofachallenge, you still feel<br />
boss of them. But the big bikes are just so<br />
fast and physical there. Six laps around the<br />
Island on a200bhp superbike can destroy<br />
you with ease. Itreally makes you question<br />
whether you can hold on for the whole<br />
duration of the race. Itchallenges you<br />
both physically and mentally. And that’s<br />
the appeal –that challenge.<br />
My dad’s win was expected,<br />
but not mine…<br />
My dad’s been competing atthe TTfor<br />
decades, sohehad to pull awin out the bag<br />
at some point. But asmuch as Iknew hehad<br />
that potential to pull aresult, my win came<br />
abit out of the blue. Don’t get mewrong, I<br />
was working as hard as Icould to get atop<br />
finish, but Iremember going past my<br />
pitboard in the (2014) Lightweight race and<br />
seeing P1, which really surprised me. I<br />
wasn’t going to let that go. Iscrapped it out<br />
to bring the little Kawasaki home at the front<br />
of the pack. There was something really<br />
special about getting my first TT win atthe<br />
same time as my dad’s. Itwas ace.<br />
50 JULY <strong>2017</strong> WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM
Change language