BRADFORD motorcycle racer Dean Harrison was able to reflect on a satisfactory weekend at Oliver’s Mount, even if he just missed out on the blue riband Gold Cup.

He lost out to Lee Johnston by two tenths of a second in that race on Sunday, and it was Johnston who did the Supersport double over him the day before too.

But Harrison still had plenty of success, winning three of the four Classic Superbike races over the weekend on his Greenall Racing ZXR750 Kawasaki, doing the Twins double on the 650cc Kawasaki and exacting some form of revenge on Johnston by beating him in a Supersport race on Sunday.

It was a weekend that nearly didn’t happen for Harrison, who suffered a nasty eye injury at work earlier in the week, costing him two hospital trips and valuable practice time on the Friday.

But he is fully recovered now, and is looking forward to the British Supersport event at Oulton Park this weekend, ahead of a fascinating week of racing in Turkey.

Speaking to the T&A about Oliver's Mount, Harrison said: “If I’d had another lap longer against Lee (in the Gold Cup) I might have won, you never know.

“The thing is, it was my first time on a new bike (the Kawasaki 600), and I was standing in for the Dafabet team too.

“But Lee is a great competitor everywhere, not just at Oliver’s Mount, but in all the road races we do. It’s good to have that competition as it keeps you on your toes.”

But there were plenty of other victories to toast for Harrison, who said: “I won a few races so I’d say it was a good weekend.

“I feel comfortable on the 750. It’s great and normally never misses a beat but there was just that one Classic Superbike race where it let us down with an engine problem.

“It was my first time on the 650, and I’d not done Twins for about six years, since I rode one at the TT, as I’d been busy with other classes.

“But I always enjoyed it before, and it was refreshing to get back doing that and win.”

Discussing the eye injury that nearly derailed his weekend, Harrison said: “I’d got some metal in my eye at work and I couldn’t get it out.

“I went to hospital on the Thursday but there was no one there to do it. I had to go back on the Friday, when they dug it out with a needle.

“I’m back to fitness now with my eye and it didn’t hinder my racing, but it did hinder me in the sense I missed Friday practice.”

There is no rest for Harrison either, who added: “I’m at Oulton Park for the British Supersport this weekend, then I’m off to Turkey on Monday for a week for the Sea-Sky off-road enduro event.

“I’ve got the Beach Race on Wednesday, the Forest Race on Thursday and the Sky Race on Friday.

“Then there’s the big Mountain Race on Saturday, where you start on the beach and have about seven or eight hours to get to the summit of the Olympus Mountain (2,365m).”

It would be a mammoth achievement, but a racer of Harrison’s calibre will be relishing the challenge.