In pictures: Dean Harrison notches up Southern 100 double as it's frustration for Michael Dunlop on the Isle of Man

There was double delight for Dean Harrison on the first evening of racing at the Southern 100 on the Isle of Man last night.

The English racer scooped first spot in both the Senior and Supersport races on a frustrating night for Michael Dunlop.

Dunlop, on board the Tyco BMW, had to settle for the runner-up spot behind Silicone Engineering Kawasaki-mounted Harrison in the Senior, and was a first-lap retirement in Supersport.

In the opening Ellan Vannin seven-lap Senior, Harrison led from start to finish.

He set the fastest lap of 114.019mph - just shy of the lap record - on the fifth lap to beat Dunlop by 10.504 seconds, with Jamie Coward a further 15.363 seconds behind the Ulsterman.

Harrison said afterwards: "That was a faultless race and the bike was spot on. There is more to come if we need it."

Dunlop was a tad more subdued than the victor.

"I didn't get away great and got held up a bit. The bike is not doing what I want it to do, but we will have to deal with what we got," he said.

Rob Hodson was quickly into second from the second row of the grid, which pushed Dunlop back to third off the start, and by the time the Tyco BMW regained the place Harrison was 3.8 seconds ahead at the end of lap one.

The race was basically over as the Bradford man extended his advantage to five and a half seconds going onto lap three, steadily pulling away from Dunlop lap by lap until the chequered flag.

Hodson dropped back to finish in fourth, eight seconds behind Coward, with Ryan Kneen a fraction of a second behind. Newcomer Sam West was sixth.

The seven-lap Supersport race was a much fiercer contest between Coward and Harrison as they circulated in close company with a tenth of a second separating them for most of the race.

Dunlop, who started third on the grid, was in trouble from the off and cruised around the first lap to retire the MD Racing Honda at the paddock.

Coward fended off Harrison for the opening four laps with a cigarette paper between them as they flashed past the line to start lap five.

Harrison hit the front next time around, but couldn't shake Coward off, 0.4 seconds between them going onto the last lap.

Although Coward set the fastest lap of the race on the final circuit at 110.304mph, Harrison collected his second win of the evening to make it 20 wins at the S100. He is now third in the all-time wins list, one behind Dunlop.

Third went to Michael Evans, from Nathan Harrison, Dominic Herbertson and Michael Sweeney.

Herbertson won a cracking 650cc race by 0.020 seconds from Hodson after six frantic laps, the sixth closest finish in the history of the S100.

Coward led the race for two laps and seemed to be on his way to victory but he lost the front end at Church Bends and slid out of the action unhurt.

Standing in for the injured Paul Jordan in the RC Express Dafabet Devitt team, Herbertson was neck-and-neck with Hodson throughout, some 24 seconds clear of Jonathan Perry in third.

Herbertson said: "I saw Jamie (Coward) go down and he rolled around like a hedgehog, but he was quickly back on his feet. The bike was exceptional throughout and it was a great battle with Rob."

A scintillating Supersport 'B' race saw Lee Hembury come through from ninth on the first lap of six to win by three quarters of a second from Frank Stennett.

Racing continues this morning from 9.50am to 12.30pm and then from 1.50pm until 4.30pm.

Belfast Telegraph