BRADFORD motorcycle racer Dean Harrison has confirmed he won't be riding again in 2020, but he certainly had an eventful ending to his competitive year.

A couple of mistakes and a nasty crash denied him any good results at Oulton Park in the Superstock 1000, before bike troubles derailed any victory assault in Turkey, where he was competing in the awe-inspiring Sea to Sky off-road enduro event.

Discussing his trip abroad last week first, Harrison laughed: "It was pretty warm in Turkey. It was a really good week, certainly an eventful one.

"I came fourth in the beach race earlier in the week, which was a good start, but I had a bit of a crash in one of the other races, which knocked us back a bit and meant the bike needed some repairs.

"Then my bike broke down on the last day, when I was three-quarters of the way up the Olympos Mountain (riders have to scale the 2,365m summit to successfully round off the event).

"I was able to get it moving enough to get back down the mountain, but it wasn't going any further up.

"You'll never do an event like it in your life, it's brilliant. I need to go back and do it again next year, and try and get to the top of the mountain."

The 31-year-old was racing at Oulton Park just days before he jetted off to Turkey, but for once he was nowhere near the podium.

Explaining a pair of rare failures, Harrison said: "I was lying about 12th in the second race, but I missed a gear going into a corner. The times are so tight there too, so six-tenths of a second will cover say 10 bikes.

"I dropped back a bit and once you've lost a bit of time in that game, trying to make the time back up is like trying to walk on water, so I finished 16th.

"I crashed out in the other race the day before. Again I was lying about 12th but I clipped the grass on the way out of Shell Oils (corner) and had a bit of an excursion."

He was full of praise for the quality on show in the Superstock field, saying: "There's loads of talent. The Superstock grid is one of the toughest in Europe.

"It's that tight time-wise and to get anywhere near the front is an achievement.

"You've got to be absolutely on it every weekend, whereas I'm dropping in and out of the championship, just to get a ride to make sure I get my signatures for my TT licence.

"To just drop into it and be competitive, I'm quite happy to be honest. When you need to find those last three or four-tenths of a second, you need to be on your bike every week really."

Harrison added: "The plan now is to regroup and then start afresh next year.

"I'm done now until next year. We'll start testing again in February or March time, as long as we can go abroad and not have to quarantine for a fortnight when we come back.

"We often go to Jerez or Cartagena, anywhere in Southern Spain. Around that time of year, it's about 18 to 20 degrees, so the temperature's like a reasonable English summer's day."