Dean Harrison: Fitness is key for Isle of Man TT defence

Dean Harrison says his preparations for the 2020 Isle of Man TT are well underway as he looks to repeat his Senior-winning exploits from 2019.

The Bradford rider notched up his second career TT victory in 2018 by succeeding in the blue riband Senior TT Superbike race riding the factory-backed Silicone Engineering Kawasaki, defeating favourite for the trophy Peter Hickman.

Things haven’t been quite so plain sailing for Harrison since then though after he suffered a ‘brush with the wall’ during the Classic TT, leaving him with broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a ruptured spleen. It’s a setback that emphasises the need to stay fit and healthy right up to the TT from this point now.

“Before you get to the TT now you’ve got to do so much homework and make sure everything’s just right – the bikes right, you’re right and the team’s all working together nicely, just so you can hit the ground running when you do get there,” he told the official Isle of Man TT website.

“It’s key to be fit even before you get to testing. [Preparation] started months ago and I had a bit of a brush with a wall at the Classic TT which didn’t help the cause. I lost six weeks recovering from that plus I wasn’t 100% for the last two BSBs, whereas now I feel a lot better than I did and so I’m just concentrating on getting out on the enduro bike and trials bike to get bike fit so when we do go testing in January, I’m ready for it.”

Harrison will continue with Silicone Engineering Kawasaki for 2020, taking in rounds of the British Superbike Championship, as well as the North West 200, before setting his sights on the TT defence.

“The team’s brilliant, I get on really well with all the team and it’s all the same for next year. The plan is to start with the first couple of rounds of the BSB Championship, then North West 200, and then on to the big one which is the TT.”