The 2014 Southern 100 boasted a quality field including 2013 Champion Guy Martin. However it was young charger Dean Harrison who took five impressive victories, before Martin won the ‘Solo Championship’ feature race. IOM TT dominator Michael Dunlop’s fortunes did not continue at the Southern 100 with Dunlop retiring in both major events.
After winning the Manx Gas Solo Championship feature race, a typically exuberant Guy exclaimed, “That was awesome, the tyre was mega. The grip was fantastic, any slides were controllable and only happened on the dusty edges of the road’.
It was a perfect start for Dean Harrison on his RC Express Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Superbike as he marked his intentions in a dominating display, taking an opening event win ahead of the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R1000 mounted Guy Martin. The Kawasaki rider repeated his performance in the Senior race, taking the victory by over six seconds.
Thee first of the two 650 Supertwin races saw Ivan Lintin dominated the race to finish ahead of Harrison and James Cowton, taking a new lap record as he did so. It was all changed in the second Supertwin race however, which proved to be one of the most exciting races of the event, as Harrison secured the win by the narrowest of margins – just 0.001s ahead of Cowton.
Continuing to stamp his authority on the event, Harrison also took both Supersport victories onboard the Mar-Train Yamaha YZF R6. However the young rider from Bradford had to fight off a hard charging Guy Martin in both races, setting a new lap record of 110.431mph in the second event.
The blue riband Manx Gas Solo Championship race was another epic tussle between Harrison and Martin. However, this time it was the popular Tyco Suzuki rider who was able to stop the RC Express Kawasaki rider’s dominance, taking the chequered flag for his first win of the event and ensuring Metzeler secured victory in every solo class race of the Southern 100. Dean also set a new circuit record with a fastest lap of 2:13.507.
Unfortunately Conor Cummins broke his arm in the opening 600cc race and underwent forearm surgery. He is looking forward to bouncing back once again, “I will be back better and stronger in no time all being well. Game on!”
