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The opening superbike race at this years cock of the north road races began in overcast but dry conditions all around the Oliver’s Mount circuit. It was Dean Harrison who got the hole shot into Mere Hairpin just in front of Jamie Hamilton and Mick Goodings who was third. As lap 1 went on Harrison continued to lead out front on the RC Express racing Kawasaki by MSS performance superbike and by the end of lap 1 Dean Harrison lead by around a second over Jamie Hamilton who occupied second place on the KMR Kawasaki powered by Vauxhall superstock bike.
Mick Goodings held a good third place on the Motocraft Conversions racing CBR 1000 Honda Fireblade, Jules Croft was fourth whilst James Coward and Craig Shirlaw held fifth and sixth positions. Onto lap 2 and positions out front remained the same but there was a race on for fourth place as Jules Croft, James Coward and Craig Shirlaw began to get closer together, Connor Behan occupied eighth place and was showing good form in his second visit to the Oliver’s Mount circuit.
As lap 2 finished Harrison lead Hamilton by over 2 seconds whilst Goodings maintained third place. Croft, Coward and Shirlaw where in fourth, fifth and sixth positions whilst Scott Campbell on the Ian Bell motorcycles backed R6 Yamaha rounded out the top 7. Dean Harrison’s lead at the front of the race kept getting bigger and bigger as Dean continued his great form on the RC Express racing Kawasaki by MSS performance superbike that was seen in Southern 100 solo championship race.
Jamie Hamilton still held second place comfortably in front of third placed Mick Goodings, the battle for fourth place continued as James Coward on the RJP racing Fireblade Honda reeled in Jules Croft who still held onto fourth place. By the end of lap 3 Dean Harrison lead by over 5 seconds from Jamie Hamilton in second place, Mick Goodings was third, leading newcomer in the race as of lap 3 was Jochem-Van-Den-Hoek from the Netherlands who was going well on the Ice Valley racing by Motorsave ltd R1 Yamaha.
Lap 4 beckoned and Dean Harrison’s relentless pace out front continued, Dean who’s now lapped at the Isle of Man TT at over 128 mph consolidated his lead out front, Jamie Hamilton still maintained second place in front of Mick Goodings but there was a change for fourth place as James Coward moved in front of Jules Croft, Craig Shirlaw completed the top 6 mid way through lap 4. Dean Harrison crossed the line at the end of lap 4 to lead by 8.5 seconds from Jamie Hamilton, Mick Goodings was around 6 seconds back on Jamie Hamilton in third place.
James Coward now into fourth place was now coming under pressure from Craig Shirlaw as lap 5 of the race began. Craig on the Shirlaws motorcycles backed ZX10 Kawasaki showed great form as he went in pursuit of James Coward for fourth place. Positions out front remained the same although David Hewson and Connor Behan had moved into seventh and eighth positions in front of Scott Campbell who was now in ninth place.
When lap 5 finished positions out front remained largely the same but the gap between Harrison and Hamilton was now over 12 seconds. Mick Goodings remained in third place, James Coward and Craig Shirlaw where close together in fourth and fifth positions whilst Jules Croft was in sixth place.
Onto the final lap of the race and Dean Harrison was line perfect on the RC Express racing Kawasaki by MSS performance superbike. Dean crossed the line at the end of lap 6 to take a brilliant race win by 15 seconds from second place finisher Jamie Hamilton. Mick Goodings finished in a superb third place whilst Craig Shirlaw produced a fantastic final lap to finish in fourth place in front of James Coward.
David Hewson, Connor Behan, Daley Mathison and Keith Pringle completed the top 10 whilst newcomer to the Oliver’s Mount circuit Jochem-Van-Den-Hoek finished in a fine 20th position. A top opening superbike race at this years cock of the north road races and one that saw once again Dean Harrison prove just how good a rider he is at Oliver’s Mount.
