ULSTER GP GUIDE, BY HARRISON
Fastest man ever talks us round the spectacular 7.4-mile circuit
O Lap record-holder reveals Dundrod secrets,
No-one has ever ridden faster around the legendary Ulster Grand Prix circuit than Dean Harrison. The 29-yearold lapped the hallowed 7.4 Dundrod miles, where Hailwood, Agostini, Read and Ivy once did battle for Grand Prix honours, in a record-breaking 134.614mph on his Silicone Kawasaki ZX-10R last August.
“There is nothing in it really between the speed at the TT and the speeds we get up to at the Ulster,” Harrison says. “The big difference is that there are a crowd of us racing together in a dogfight at Dundrod.
“You need to get off the line fast and get to the front so you don’t get stuck in the middle of the pack going down the Flying Kilo. “You are doing 190mph with bikes all around you on the first lap. The left at Rock Bends is taken in fifth, then you’re down to fourth for the right. “When you get to Leatherstown things start to sort themselves out as it’s follow-theleader in first gear. You get into a sixth-gear slipstream line on the long run to the top of Deer’s Leap. “I struggle to overtake anyone over the top but I drop down a couple of gears so I can keep the power on going down the rollercoaster. If you keep the front down you can make a pass.
“I like the third-gear righthander at Cochranstown even though the road drops away below the trees. Then it’s back up to sixth for the run to Quarterlands which is a bumpy off-camber right. There have been a few crashes here. “I crashed at the next corner, Ireland’s, in 2014 but it’s still one of my favourite places. You slipstream uphill to Lougher’s, a fifth-gear right-hander where you can get a big wheelie on the exit. You stay in fifth all the way to Joey’s Windmill. If you apex too early you can clip the bank on the exit of this tricky third-gear righthander.
“The road climbs steeply and it’s top gear through the fast right kink after Jordan’s Cross. The bike is sliding and the front wheel comes up, too. It’s really fast. “You brake hard and go down to third for the right at Wheeler’s followed by a fifth-gear straight to Tournagrough. “There’s only one line through the left-right-left, but there is a bump in the middle that can throw you off. It’s second gear all the way through and you’re leaning right over.
“The Hairpin is where most races are won or lost. If you are leading there, you stay tight. “Then it’s back up to fifth for the run to Flowbog. If you have too much lean you can run wide at this crossroads.
“I love this part of the course. The road flows as you drop into a long fourth-gear right. You drop down another gear for the left at Quarry and drive hard. You need to stay tight to stop anyone getting up the inside of you and get a good run into the left at Dawson’s, the last corner. Hopefully you’ll see the chequered flag as you drive to the line with the bike right over on its side.”