Saturday

Six years after the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) and Quattro British Supersport Championship classes last ventured to the Netherlands, Honda Racing has been in the thick of the action at TT Circuit Assen.

Tommy Bridewell opened his account by maintaining a presence among the top five BSB runners throughout Friday’s two Free Practice sessions. The former BSB champion represents Honda Racing on a single Fireblade at Assen, while team-mate Andrew Irwin recovers from surgery after crashing out of the previous round.

After ending Saturday morning’s FP3 in fifth, and comfortably making it through to the pole position shootout, Bridewell eventually claimed ninth position on the grid for Race 1.

Torrential rain then began to fall as the contenders were lining up on the grid. Honda Racing had pre-empted that decision and sent Bridewell out on wet settings, allowing him to ride comfortably in the lead pack until visibility issues forced him into the pits.

Soon afterwards the race was red-flagged due to the weather conditions. The grid reformed for a six-lap sprint to the finish with Bridewell rejoining on the back row, but the conditions worsened during the warm-up lap and the result was declared.

In Supersport, Jack Kennedy ended Friday’s Free Practice sessions in an encouraging second place on the timesheets, with team-mate Dean Harrison setting the sixth fastest time.

Going straight into Qualifying on Saturday morning, the two riders ended a busy session with Kennedy sixth and Harrison eighth. Their first race of the weekend was then delayed by the adverse weather that fell upon Assen, with the race directors taking the decision to reschedule their race, which will now be held on Sunday morning.

Tommy Bridewell

“It’s been a really refreshing start to the weekend. For me, it’s just been working through the process of a normal weekend in a nice manner. We’ve kept calm and we’ve had good race pace. We weren’t able to get enough out of the rear tyre over a single lap in qualifying compared to our competitors, but we can improve on that. Our race pace is brilliant in the dry and I think we’ve got some ideas for tomorrow, when the first five laps of the race need a big push, and that’s really our problem area. In the wet we were on the grid with full wets and ready to go, the bike felt great at the start, I was really happy with everything, but within two laps my visor started letting in water. I just couldn’t see anything at 140 mph at the back of the circuit; couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me. Never in my life did I ever feel that I’d get to that point, but just down to safety I felt like I had to pit. It breaks me to say it because I just can’t believe I’d ever be in that position. It’s extremely frustrating when the team gave me a bike that’s perfectly capable of fighting for the podium, and I felt really good on it, but it was like trying to ride with one eye closed. We thought that we might get another stab at it, so I duct-taped the whole helmet up, and I was confident of being able to get back through the field, but the red flag was the correct decision on safety grounds.”

Jack Kennedy

“Qualifying didn’t go entirely to plan. We really wanted to be on the front row to make life a bit easier in the race, but it didn’t come together with us. I never really got a tow, basically, I had to work on my own, and I think we might have needed a bit of slipstream to make it happen. We didn’t get that, but I’m quite confident we can do a good pace in the race. So, I know I’ve got a lap or two of hard graft that I have to do at the start of the race to get us into the position that I want to be in. I think we’ll be okay from there on in. We can be confident in the race that we can do a good job.”

Dean Harrison

“I do think that postponing the race was the right decision, especially when you’ve got 35-40 bikes on the track in Supersport. For safety reasons I feel like it was the right decision. In practice, we had a bit of an issue in FP1 that put us back a bit, but we learnt quite a lot and ended up right back at the same pace as Jack again, which seems to be a pattern. I’m looking forward to the race and hopefully it will be dry tomorrow. We’re learning so much with the bike, and the track’s so different from when we were last here six years ago that I feel like a newcomer again, but I’m enjoying it.”

Team Principal Neil Fletcher

“In the Superbike garage, I think it’s testament to the team that members of both Andrew’s crew and Tommy’s crew have integrated so well with a very short lead time for Tommy to feel extremely confident in his Fireblade this weekend. I’m frustrated on behalf of our Supersport team, but I have to commend the race directors in making the right calls at the right time today. It’s been a unique experience to have arrived at Assen in blazing sunshine this morning and then to end up with the day cut short by heavy rain. But we can look forward to tomorrow with optimism.”

Sunday

Honda Racing played a starring role in both the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) and Quattro British Supersport Championship on the final day of action at TT Circuit Assen.

Former BSB champion Tommy Bridewell lined the sole factory Honda Fireblade up in 12th position for the start of Race 2, determined to put the disappointment of retiring from the first race of the weekend behind him.

What followed was a masterclass as he worked his way up through the field in wet conditions to finish in an eventual fourth place, setting the third fastest lap of the race to claim a spot on the front row for the start of Race 3.

At the start of the final race, Bridewell was in the thick of the lead pack and briefly set the fastest lap of the race before red flags came out due to rainfall. Restarting in fourth place, Bridewell dropped back briefly but regained the position and stayed there to the chequered flag.

Honda’s defending champion in the Supersport category, Jack Kennedy, declared before the start of the weekend that only victories would do as he seeks to position himself in the end-of-season points battle.

Saturday’s first race was rained off and rescheduled to Sunday. Starting his Honda CBR600RR from sixth on the grid, five-time champion Kennedy was at the back of the train that pulled away from the rest of the field in the early laps, sizing up opportunities to move up through the pack.

The Irishman struck as the race approached half distance, working his way through into the lead. He dropped back into second place on the final lap, but then surged past at the final chicane to seal a momentous win, with his Isle of Man TT-winning team-mate Dean Harrison claiming 10th place.

The second Supersport race was declared dry and both Hondas started on slick tyres despite spots of rain. The conditions worsened briefly, prompting caution from both Kennedy and Harrison, who then picked up their pace to cross the finish line in seventh and 17th place respectively.

The 2025 BSB season reaches its penultimate round at Oulton Park in Cheshire on 3-5 October.

Tommy Bridewell

“I was a little bit frustrated that they red-flagged the first stint of the final race, because if I’m honest I felt a little bit better on the bike. But it is what it is: I’m happy enough, we’ve made great progress with the bike and the team’s done a sterling job, really. I’ve enjoyed a really refreshing weekend, and from here we just need to keep up the progress. We had great pace in both races and we’ve got to take the positives and keep building on where we are.”

Jack Kennedy

“I suppose it’s a bit up and down today. I said that we needed to start winning again and we did that this morning, which was really satisfying. But we didn’t do it this afternoon. They were tricky conditions out there, with a small dry line, and then it started raining again and I didn’t have a great feeling. I had to back off more than the other people did and still felt like I was on the limit of what I had. Unfortunately they were able to build a bit of a gap on me. When the rain stopped I really put the hammer down and gave it everything for 12 laps maybe and I got close in the end, but there was just too much of a gap. I’m happy with the effort that I put in, so it was a day of two halves, really, still good points and we’re still in the championship fight but we have to do better at Oulton Park.”

Dean Harrison

“The weather just wasn’t playing ball, was it? I got a reasonable start in the second race, lost the rear two or three times out at the back when it rained, went across the grass and the gravel, and dropped back to about 25th so I just chipped my way forward from there. I’ll be honest, whilst it was raining, I was just holding my place because we were never going to get all the way back to the front and the risk didn’t match the reward. I was struggling for rear feel, but I think it was largely down to the weather conditions and when it dried up my times jumped back up. I can do the times, but I had two or three big moments and just put it to bed. It’s my worst weekend of the year aside from Knockhill, so roll on Oulton Park, hopefully the weather’s better in England!”

Team Principal Neil Fletcher

“Overall, the team can take a lot of positives away at the end of our first trip to Assen in several years. The superbike team, with elements of both regular crews, came together with Tommy at very short notice and immediately played to each other’s strengths. I think that teamwork was a key ingredient in the pace that we showed on the track. Meanwhile, in Supersport, Jack’s victory in the first race was vital to his title hopes and rich reward for the efforts in that garage. They then managed the conditions well to bring both bikes home in Race 2, so we can look ahead to Oulton Park with confidence.”