Dean Harrison said Michael Dunlop’s Ducati Panigale V2 is in a “different stratosphere” to his Honda CBR600RR on the straights after the pair set the pace in the Supersport class at the North West 200 last week. The only middleweight race of the 6-9 May meeting was stopped with a red flag before the final lap, cutting short a battle Harrison said he was ready to take on.

Harrison said he was comfortable where he was in the race and got “right close” to Dunlop on the lap before the stoppage. The nine-time North West 200 winner said his plan was to use the slipstream, close in by Juniper and make a move if the chance came. “The Ducati’s in a different stratosphere when it comes to speed,” he said, adding that his Honda could not live with the Ducati in the straights even though he felt stronger under braking and through the turns.

That meant Harrison was trying to win the fight in the parts of the course where his bike could still hold an edge. He said he could pull Dunlop on the brakes and in the slipstream, and that he was quicker from Church Corner to Juniper Chicane. He also said he could get Dunlop into Black Hill, sit on his back wheel and set up an attack toward Juniper, but the red flag came out before he could try it.

Dunlop, who is running the Ducati with support from Scars Racing this year, said he felt good and kept building pace as the race went on. He said the bike was doing everything he wanted and that he felt really comfortable on it, while also saying he could see Harrison hanging on. Dunlop praised Harrison’s current form and said the Ducati had the punch off the corner, even if the Honda should have had the top-end speed.

The exchange underlines how close the class has become at the top, and how much of the outcome in a full Supersport race could still come down to whether the Honda can make enough of a dent before the Ducati stretches away again. Scars Racing already showed its pace earlier in the season by winning both Supersport races at the opening British Superbike round with Luke Stapleford, and Dunlop’s North West 200 speed suggests that package is carrying real momentum into the rest of the year.