Sunday
In a day of mixed fortunes for Honda Racing UK, Tommy Bridewell puts the disappointment of a difficult qualifying behind him to race from twelfth on the grid to an impressive fourth at the chequered flag.
Not at all dissimilar to the rollercoaster-like nature of the Cadwell Park circuit, Sunday at round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship was an up-and-down affair for Honda Racing UK. A crash for Andrew Irwin in FP3 resulted in his withdrawal from the remainder of the day with a medical assessment due first thing to ascertain his fitness.
In qualifying, Tommy then suffered a crash of his own and was unable to set a representative lap time. He therefore had to start the sole race of the day from twelfth, despite his impressive pace shown throughout the weekend to that moment.
Putting it all behind him for the race however, Tommy made a fantastic getaway from the line and positioned himself decisively on circuit to rapidly move up the order. By the end of the opening lap, he was up into eighth place and hunting down those ahead. Just three laps later he was up into sixth with his 2023 championship rival Glenn Irwin two seconds up the road in fifth.
Fast lap after fast lap followed and by lap ten he was right on the rear wheel of his competitor and clearly lapping with greater pace. Pulling a move into Park, Tommy was unable to make it stick as Glenn repassed him on the cutback. One lap later however Tommy pulled off the overtake and chased after O’Halloran ahead.
Just a few corners later though, Glenn dived through at the chicane and Tommy had to take evasive action, cutting across the grass and losing time as a result. But with all of the grit and determination of a champion, Tommy refused to be beaten and closed back in once more and pulled off the same overtake. Only this time it was for good. Not content with fifth place he then scythed past O’Halloran and into fourth at turn one on the final lap, a position that he would hold to the line.
In Supersport it was also a day of celebration and heartbreak as a double front row in qualifying for Jack Kennedy and Dean Harrison sent the team into the race in a buoyant mood. An almost race-long duel followed for the lead as Jack and rival Luke Stapleford battled hard under lap record pace for the majority of the race. Then with two laps to go disaster would strike as Jack crashed out of second place.
Dean meanwhile had been battling hard from his third-place grid position to have a podium finish in sight on the final lap. Sitting in fourth on the final lap and right on the rear wheel of third, a move looked on the cards for a rostrum finish. In the run to the line out of the final corner though it just wasn’t meant to be as Dean finished agonisingly close to a podium visit and just 0.064 seconds back.
#1 Tommy Bridewell
It was a good race, to be honest, I knew that it was really important to make the start and luckily I did. I got a really clear run through T1, T2 and then up onto the back straight which meant I was right up behind Brookes at the start. I then managed to get through on him but got stuck behind Leon for a little bit too long and lost a bit of time, which then meant the front guys got away a bit. When I came back at them I felt great and it was me and my old rival Glenn on circuit together. He duffed me up into the chicane and onto the grass which cost me a lot of time. I then had to work really hard to get back up to them and pass him again. I think without that we might have had the pace to get onto the back of Charlie in third maybe. I know how important those championship points are to win a championship and that’s why I fought tooth and nail to come up through to fourth. From where we were on the grid I have to be happy.
#5 Dean Harrison
Qualifying was good as we worked together and it came together perfectly with us both on the front row. I followed Jack for a few laps and then he followed me and we used the tow to best effect. I struggled off the line in the race because we had a problem with the tyre warmer, which meant I was a bit hesitant at the start. Truelove came past and I just struggled to get past him, compared to us he just has a much more powerful motorbike so it makes it challenging to get past, I can pull alongside the bigger CC bikes in the slipstream but then getting passed is almost impossible. Tomorrow I think we just need to be a bit more aggressive.
#4 Jack Kennedy
We worked really well together in qualifying today and it all went to plan. I thought with two minutes to go that I was safe, I had a gap of four-tenths then next time I came around I was three-tenths down, so fair play to Luke for putting that lap together. In the race, I got a good start, but Ben Currie got an even better one from the second row and got the lead. Luke then managed to get passed him and I followed and I was just trying to hold onto the back of him. The pace then was unbelievable, lap record pace for seven laps in a row and we were dropping Ben behind. There are so many different strengths and weaknesses between the two bikes which meant that the gap was swaying up and down. I knew that I could probably have a lunge but It’d compromise my exit. For my championship, I probably should have just stayed in second but the racer in me just couldn’t let it go. I wanted to do a move on the last lap but unfortunately, on the penultimate lap I crashed. I don’t really feel like I did anything different to any other lap and the team confirmed that in the data. It’s just one of them, pushing on the limit half a second under the lap record and folded the front. It’s very frustrating but we take the positives. The pace is amazing and we are the only 600 cc bike battling the bigger bikes week in, week out.
Monday
In a brilliant display of riding calmly under pressure, Tommy Bridewell wins on Honda’s home turf in the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the day.
With the August sunshine finally making its long-awaited appearance the BSB grid rolled out onto the grid for the first race of the day, the shorter twelve-lap sprint. Lining up in the middle of the front row, Tommy Bridewell was fully focused on the job at hand having made key strategic decisions with his crew prior to the race.
After a rocket start as the lights went out, it was three abreast into turn one as Tommy tussled with his competitors for the lead. Moments later, it was into the lead for Tommy and a leading trio of riders began to make their getaway. Fast lap after fast lap followed as the three, Tommy, Kyle and Jackson ran nose to tail.
With the team signalling to defend hard in sector one, Tommy became aware that it was in this part of the circuit that the attacks were likely to come. As such, what followed was a masterful display of defensive riding to ensure that his Fireblade was as wide as possible for the duration of the race to hold the lead. And disappoint Tommy did not, for he held the lead all the way to the chequered flag to deliver the team their first home-round win since Alex Lowes’ title-winning year of 2013.
In the second race of the day, the longer 20-lap feature, there was work to do early in the race from the middle of the second row as Tommy lost a position in the early race tussle. On his second circuit though he passed Honda mounted Jackson and was up into fifth, which quickly became fourth when Vickers crashed from the lead. By lap five, Tommy had closed in on and then passed his old adversary Glenn Irwin for third. Not content with third, and just a few laps later, he had passed Nesbitt for second and set his sights on Ryde out front.
At the halfway stage of the race, Tommy was just half a second behind his nearest 2024 championship challenger. The two were lapping at a frighteningly fast pace as the gap between the two yo-yoed. A move for the lead just wasn’t meant to be though as Tommy brought his Fireblade home in second place to secure podium number thirteen of the season. Tommy leaves Cadwell with a nineteen-point championship lead heading into the showdown rounds.
In British Supersport, Jack Kennedy bounced back from the disappointment of Sunday and delivered a composed ride to second to score podium number eleven of the season. Although he relinquished the championship lead it is still all to play for in a three-way scrap for the title. Jack is just one point back from Luke Stapleford with Ben Currie a further in arrears of Jack. Dean Harrison was unable to capitalise on the promising pace of morning warm up as he crashed out of the race on lap four.
The team will be back in action for round nine of the championship which takes place at Oulton Park 13 – 15th September.
#1 Tommy Bridewell
I’m happy with my weekend, I really am, I can’t be anything but happy. After the disappointment of qualifying yesterday, I knew that things were going to be difficult today. But I never give up, and to fight back to fourth yesterday, and then get the win this morning and come home with a second this afternoon is credit to where we are at the moment. I owe a lot to the team for the win earlier, because I was struggling in a couple of areas and we worked hard to come up with a strategy to help me manage the race. The plan was to put the sector I was struggling in on my board so I knew where to focus and where to defend and it worked. I don’t think it was the prettiest win but it’s a win nonetheless. In the second race, yes I was frustrated to follow Kyle for the whole race but we were doing unbelievable lap times. I needed to keep the pressure on him in the race, and as competitors, you can’t help but admire the pressure we put him under and the fact he didn’t crack so fair play to him. I’m leading the championship still and that’s the way I want it to stay!
#4 Jack Kennedy
Today, we had a game plan to bring the bike home in the top position that we knew was within our limits. It was important for us to race within our limits today to make sure we maximised the championship points that we could score. I flipped a switch in me and said I am not overriding this bike here to try and beat Luke and go down. I need to get this result and I need to finish the race today. I can finally say that I decided to settle for second, which goes against the racer in me, but for the championship, it was the right decision.
#5 Dean Harrison
It was a frustrating race to tell the truth after we made a few changes this morning for warm-up which helped me find some more lap time and I went quicker than we went in the race yesterday. I made an alright start but then lost a few places. Then on lap five I clipped the curb and down we went. It’s obviously not the result that we wanted today, but we will get our heads down, keep working and go again at Oulton Park next.
