Scarborough Gold Cup: Imperious Dean Harrison wins delayed showpiece race in damp for fabulous Supersport four-timer
Dominant Dean Harrison mastered the wet conditions on Sunday to win the 80th anniversary Gold Cup race for the fourth time as part of a Supersport five-timer at Oliver’s Mount.
The headline race was delayed as rain arrived at the 2.43-mile course, but it made no difference to the outcome as Honda Racing rider Harrison completed a clean sweep at England’s only road race, winning five races from five starts.
The Yorkshireman led home Republic of Ireland rider Mike Browne and Peter Hickman in the eight-lap feature race, who narrowly held off Rob Hodson for the final podium spot.
British Supersport frontrunner Harrison was celebrating his 116th victory at Oliver’s Mount on his return to the venue for the first time since 2023.
Harrison, this year’s Isle of Man TT Superbike and Senior race winner, grabbed the lead in the Gold Cup showdown and pulled a gap of 1.248s over last year’s winner Browne (BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha) after the first lap.
Harrison’s advantage was up to 1.840s after the second lap over Browne, with Hickman (Swan Racing by PHR Triumph) around 3.5s adrift in third and clear of Hodson (SMT Racing Ducati) in fourth.
After three laps, Harrison had put daylight between himself and Browne, establishing a cushion of 4.8s.
Hickman was third, two seconds clear of Hodson, with Tom Weeden (Club 77 Triumph) and Manx Grand Prix hero Johnny Stewart the top six.
Harrison was in control and had increased his advantage to 7.365s over Browne after five laps, with Hickman six seconds back in third but now only eight tenths ahead of Hodson.
On the penultimate lap, Harrison’s lead had decreased slightly to 6.627s but he remained in control from Browne, who was almost nine seconds clear of Hickman.
Hodson slashed the deficit to Hickman in third to only three tenths of a second and was threatening the 14-time TT winner for the final podium position going into the last lap.
Stewart overhauled Weeden for fourth but was a long way behind the battle for third.
Harrison could afford to ease off on the final lap and crossed the line to win the prestigious race by 4.609s from Browne, with Hickman holding off Hodson to secure third, around 10 seconds behind the Cork man.
Stewart claimed fifth with Ryan Dixon taking sixth ahead of Weeden and Joey Thompson in eighth.
On Saturday, Harrison won both Supersport races in fine conditions by more than 12 seconds from Hickman.
He picked up where he left off on Sunday, clinching his third win by 3.447s over Hickman, who led until the halfway mark on his Triumph.
Browne completed the podium, around 3.2s further behind.
After his victory in the Gold Cup race, Harrison returned for the final Supersport race of the weekend and produced a five-star performance, seeing off Weeden by 3.198s with Hickman a few tenths in arrears in third.
Stewart finished fourth ahead of the returning Davey Todd (PHR Performance Triumph), who was competing for the first time since a big crash at the Daytona 200 in March. Todd also finished fifth in Saturday’s second race and yesterday’s Supersport opener.