Southern 100: Dean Harrison clinches Superbike pole and tops Supersport times | Michael Dunlop second fastest on Buildbase Suzuki

Harrison put down a marker in the second qualifying session with the fastest lap overall at 113.732mph on his DAO Racing Kawasaki as the event returned to the 4.25-mile Billown course on the Isle of Man.

The Yorkshire rider was 1.895s faster than Ballymoney’s Michael Dunlop, who clocked his best lap of 112.152mph on the Hawk Racing Buildbase Suzuki.

Dunlop – a hat-trick winner at the Walderstown Road Races in County Westmeath on Sunday – was 1.5s ahead of Jamie Coward (KTS/Steadplan Yamaha).

The Ulsterman had topped the times in the first Superbike qualifying session at 111.274mph from Harrison (110.817mph).

Manx rider Nathan Harrison impressed on his Honda, claiming fourth place on the grid with a lap of 110.712mph.

Davey Todd on the Milenco by Padgett’s Honda and Ryan Kneen (BMW) completed the top six in Superbike qualifying.

Paul Jordan was eighth fastest on the PreZ Racing Yamaha behind Rob Hodson (Dafabet Kawasaki), while Skerries man Michael Sweeney was ninth quickest on his MJR BMW.

Harrison claimed provisional pole in the Supersport class with a late lap of 108.907mph, which put him top of the time sheets by 0.161s from Coward on the KTS/Steadplan Yamaha. Dunlop was third (MD Racing Yamaha), 0.652s down on Harrison after lapping at 108.405mph.

Todd finished the opening Supersport session fourth fastest, clocking 107.834mph, while the top six was finalised by Hodson (Yamaha) and Jordan. Sweeney slotted into seventh on his Yamaha, lapping at 103.870mph.

Coward set an unofficial lap record in the second Lightweight Supertwin session at 104.744mph, while Hodson was 1.4s down in second. Isle of Man TT rostrum finisher Jordan was third fastest, 1.5s further behind.

Final qualifying for Supersport and Sidecar competitors takes place on Tuesday evening before the opening Lightweight Supertwin race and the Senior race for Superbike riders.