The Marshals Cup – Senior 1st leg
Dean Harrison made it a hat-trick of wins at a gloomy Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough late on Saturday afternoon when he took victory in the Senior race by almost ten seconds. Riding the Silicone Engineering Kawasaki, the Bradford rider overhauled Daley Mathison on lap three to run home a clear winner, also setting the fastest lap of the day at 1m44.706s.
It was Mathison (Eddie Stobart Racing BMW) that led at the end of lap one from Harrison, the impressive David Jackson and Ivan Lintin and whilst Mathison continued to lead at the end of lap two, Lintin had managed to find a way by Jackson.
Once he had clear road in front of him, Harrison turned on the style and was lapping at times two seconds quicker than anyone else as Mathison and Lintin remained locked in battle in second. Jackson ran into trouble on lap five though when his BMW died coming out of Farm Bends and he dropped back to seventh.
Harrison’s lead reached ten seconds at one stage but he eased off on the eighth and final lap to eventually take the win by 8.8s whilst Mathison just managed to hold off Lintin. Mick Goodings took a lonely fourth as Jackson regrouped to take a solid fifth.
Mike Norbury, none the worse for his earlier spill, finished in a good sixth as Mark Goodings, Stephen Parsons, Brian Greenfield and Craig Neve completed the top ten.
Solo Open – 1st leg
Dean Harrison made it two wins from two start at Oliver’s Mount on Saturday when he romped to victory in the Open race coming home some ten seconds clear of Adam McLean.
Harrison had qualified on pole 2.5s quicker than his nearest rival and the Silicone Engineering rider duly led at the end of lap one from the 600cc machines of McLean and Michael Dunlop in second and third. David Jackson slotted into fourth on his BMW with Jamie Coward in fifth but the pack behind got split as Mike Norbury highsided, without injury, on the exit of Farm Bends.
Harrison was having no such issues and extended his lead on each and every lap, the gap after four of the eight laps already eight seconds. McLean was continuing to perform heroics on his 600 in second with Coward now up to third as Dunlop again retired. Jackson was still holding onto a great fourth but it was close with James Cowton, Daley Mathison and Ivan Lintin right in his wheel tracks.
Lapping two seconds a quicker than anyone else, Harrison’s lead was up to 12 seconds going into the final lap and he eased off as he crossed the line, his eventual winning margin over McLean 9.98s. Coward got close to the Ulsterman but not enough to make a pass with Mathison coming through to fourth.
Cowton, also 600cc-mounted, held onto fifth with Lintin in sixth and Jackson ending his fine ride with seventh. Mick Goodings, Craig Neve – who was out on a Moto 2 machine - and Tom Weeden rounded out the top ten but there was disappointment for front row qualifier Mark Goodings whose bike refused to fire at the start of the warm-up lap.
Supersport - David Jefferies Cup 1st leg
Harrison opened his account at the Scarborough Gold Cup with victory in Saturday afternoon’s Supersport 600cc race, the first leg of the David Jefferies Cup, as the Silicone Engineering Kawasaki rider overhauled pole man Adam McLean at half race distance.
Overnight rain meant it was a damp start to proceedings but by mid-morning the clouds had given way to sunny intervals and although a few damp patches still persisted under the trees, most riders opted for dry tyres for the 8-lap race.
McLean (MSS Performance Kawasaki) led off the line and he held a 1.4s lead at the end of the first lap over Joey Thompson (ILR Kawasaki) and James Cowton (Cowton Racing Honda) with Harrison back in fifth having started from the second row,
McLean’s advantage had increased to 2.2s at the end of the second lap and it was now Cowton and Harrison who were in second and third as Thompson slipped back to fourth. Michael Dunlop was an early retirement with another pre-race favourite Daley Mathison also pulling in to the pits.
Harrison moved up to second on lap three and with a clear track in front of him, he quickly reeled in McLean. Lapping close to lap record pace, Harrison took over at the front on lap four as just one second covered the top three at half race distance. There was an equally close battle for fourth with Thompson, Ivan Lintin and Jamie Coward nose to tail.
Once in the lead, Harrison got the hammer down and he eventually took the chequered flag 4.9s clear of impressive Ulsterman McLean with Cowton in a good third. The battle for fourth went all the to the end but it was Lintin (Dafabet Devitt Racing Kawasaki) who prevailed with Coward (Radcliffe Racing Honda) also getting ahead of Thompson.
Lightweight Manx Grand Prix winner Darren Cooper had a good ride into seventh with Mick Goodings, Mark Goodings and Mike Norbury rounding out the top ten.
