HARRISON TO COMPETE UNDER H&H MOTORCYCLES
Former Senior and Junior Manx Grand Prix winner Nathan Harrison will make his third appearance at the Isle of Man TT Races, this time riding under the H&H Motorcycles banner.
The 26-year-old will continue with support from Honda UK as an official satellite team and will ride the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP in the RST Superbike TT, Milwaukee Senior TT and RL360/Opul Superstock TT races and will also ride the Honda CBR600RR in the two Monster Energy Supersport TT races.
After a superb TT debut in 2022, the Onchan rider was forced to miss out in 2023 when he was set to line up as team-mate to 23-time winner John McGuinness at Honda Racing UK, but injuries sustained at the North West 200 forced him to withdraw.
He finally got to run the iconic red, white and blue colours at last year’s TT as part of an expanded team which also included Dean Harrison and although testing injuries hampered him, Nathan took full advantage, benefiting greatly from the knowledge and experience of both his team-mates and team manager Havier Beltran.
Concentrating on the 1000cc races, Harrison lapped at close to 129mph in both the Superbike TT and Superstock TT races before being forced to retire-just a handful of miles from the finish in the latter.
However, he more than made up for those disappointments in the closing Senior TT when he improved his personal best lap of the Mountain Course to 129.156mph, on his way to a brilliant seventh place.
Although not retained by Honda Racing UK, Harrison has maintained support from Beltran as an official satellite team with Honda UK building and supplying him with two Superstock machines along with parts for his Supersport machine.
Nathan Harrison said: “Riding for the official Honda Racing UK team these last two years has been a tremendous experience and whilst there’s no denying that I would have liked the results to have been better, I’ve learnt so much.
“Through the relationships forged, not least with Harv who supported me greatly and continues to do so, I’m pleased to have retained Honda’s support. The supply of the Superstock bikes is a great boost, and I still chat to all the guys regularly. I’ll be in a different team in 2025 but they will still be around to advise and help if I ask, which as a rider is great for the confidence.
“We are looking forward to running our own team headed up by my Dad Dean, who has brought in additional team members with lots of TT specific knowledge and experience. My injury last year meant I came into the TT unprepared and far from fit so to come away with seventh in the Senior TT and a new PB was extremely pleasing.
“My TT career’s still very much in its infancy and I’ve plenty of years ahead of me but I know in my head what I’m capable of. I’m not going to reach the level of Hicky, Michael or Davey this year, but the aim is to bridge the gap to that next group.”
The Manxman hopes to be seeded, to allow him the learning opportunities afforded by racing closer to sharp end of the grid.
“The likes of John, James (Hillier) and Jamie (Coward) are my next benchmark so we’ll see what we can do. I’m looking forward to getting back on the 600 to get the all important laps in, but the 1000cc races are what I enjoy the most. Since the Superbike’s better than me at the moment so it makes sense to stick with the Superstock bike – the more I can learn, the better I’ll be.”
