Jack Kennedy claims victory and Tommy Bridewell is back on the box

As the dust settles after a day of superb Bennetts British Superbike racing, Honda Racing UK and Jack Kennedy celebrate winning by the finest of margins, whilst Tommy Bridewell scores a second-place finish.

Cold but dry conditions remained throughout the day at Donington Park for the first day of racing in this, the tenth round of the championship. Aboard their respective Fireblades, Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin qualified well within the top ten positions in fifth and ninth places as less than a second covered the top twelve.

Despite the close nature of qualifying however, the opening twenty-lap superbike race of the weekend was a two-horse affair as the leading championship duo rocketed away to the front of the field and left their competitors in their wake. Kyle Ryde from pole made a clean getaway at the start whilst Bridewell had work to do early on from fifth. But get to work he most certainly did, as he made bold decisive overtakes quickly to reach second by the end of the first lap.

From here on in he stalked his championship rival and ramped up the pressure lap after lap as he sat right on the rear wheel of his competitor. A move for the lead however just didn’t materialise as the two lapped at an incredibly similar pace. Nonetheless, by crossing the line in second, Tommy maintains his championship lead and has gained vital information from which to make overnight progress with his setup, and having achieved the fastest lap of the race he starts the sprint tomorrow in pole position.

Andrew Irwin meanwhile had a strong race from ninth on the grid to a fighting fourth at the flag. Mastering his early race aggression to make hard clean moves through the field, this result marked a welcome return to the podium fight as he finished just two-tenths behind elder brother Glenn in third.

For Honda Racing UK though it was in British Supersport that the loudest cheers would come. Jack Kennedy delivered a gutsy and determined ride to victory number eight of the season with a stunning last-lap move on his championship rival to win by just 0.05 seconds. In the same race, Dean Harrison endured a bruising ten-lap scrap as hard-fought battles ultimately cost him time in his pursuit for a top-five finish. He completed the race in ninth.

#1 Tommy Bridewell

It’s strange to say that today was ‘tough’ because for me typically a ‘tough’ race is a really physically hard race, whereas today I felt like I could ride around at that pace till the sun came down. We are struggling in a few areas and I can’t quite ride how I want to ride but I am happy that we are still doing what we are doing. We are working really hard to find something with the setup to help us improve in a few areas. Kyle is riding really well and I tried to put him under as much pressure as possible but I knew fairly early on I was relying on a mistake, credit to him, he rode mega and handled the pressure. We have to box smart and pick our battles, if we concede three points today but learn from the twenty-lap race how we can improve for tomorrow then so be it. One thing’s for sure though, we will come back fighting tomorrow for sure.

#18 Andrew Irwin

Honestly, fourth today is quite a good ride, you know I started from ninth and came through and was quite aggressive when I needed to be to make the progress. I came through the pack to be right on the back of Glenn, and at that stage I thought that he was going to pull us away from those behind, so I wanted to use his pace to create a gap. Then late in the race when I wanted to try and make a pass I just didn’t have the grip in the places that I needed it to pull the move off. It’s frustrating to come forth, but it’s a good result compared to Oulton and after we missed Cadwell, so I am happy in some ways but frustrated in others. I’m looking forward to tomorrow because I think we have the potential to make another step and get ourselves another decent result. 

#4 Jack Kennedy

I don’t know where to start! I can’t get my head around that I won that race! I was trying to line something up to pass Ben for the lead but then TJ was coming at me too which I knew was the last thing that I needed. When TJ came past on the last lap I needed to focus on keeping him behind me to keep second place and get the points, but then as the lap went on I kept edging Ben in closer and closer. I knew that if I didn’t have a go for the wing then I wouldn’t sleep tonight so I knew that Melbourne Loop was my only opportunity even though Ben was super strong on the brakes there. I just broke later than he did and went for it, managed to get it stopped, got it turned and then defended like crazy to the line and got the win. I want to dedicate this win to the whole Fitzsimons family who have been a massive part of my racing and have sadly lost someone special recently, so this win is for them. 

#5 Dean Harrison

I got a good start to be fair and managed to settle in quickly which was the target, to be more aggressive early on and position ourselves where we needed to be. Then we had a bit of a coming together with a few people and everyone got their elbows out and it got a tad scrappy. I ended up having a bit of a big excursion at the Melbourne Loop and we had some contact when another rider closed their line across me which cost me a load of time again but I managed to nick a position off Rhys Irwin on the last lap to get ninth. So all in all, a bit of a chaotic race to be fair, but I’m confident that tomorrow we can get stuck in again. 

Jack Kennedy extends his championship lead

After a defiant ride to second place, and podium number fourteen of the season, Jack Kennedy increases his points advantage in British Supersport.

In weather befitting the late September running of round ten of the Bennetts British Superbike championship, Honda Racing UK experienced contrasting fortunes from the two championships in which it competes.

In the first BSB race of the day, the twelve lap sprint, Tommy Bridewell fought hard from pole position in a race-long duel with championship rivals Kyle Ryde and Glenn Irwin to secure his twelfth second-place finish of the season so far. Team mate Andrew Irwin meanwhile raced to a solid sixth-place finish, backing up his return to front running pace and one of only a handful of riders to lap in the mid twenty seven bracket.

The second superbike feature lap race of the weekend though was a frustrating affair for Bridewell as he failed to replicate his podium performance earlier in the day and had to settle for fifth at the flag. Andrew Irwin followed just behind to make it a brace of sixth-place finishes. Whilst finishing fifth enabled Tommy to score more valuable championship points in his quest to defend his title, he relinquished the series lead to rival Ryde and now heads to Brands Hatch for the finale as the hunter rather than the hunted.

But it was in supersport that the team celebrated the spoils of racing as once again Jack Kennedy displayed his sensational talent as he powered his CBR600RR to the podium once more in a hard-fought race against the larger capacity machines of his championship rivals. Sixteen laps of nail-biting racing resulted in a superb second-place finish for Jack and another top-ten finish for teammate Dean Harrison in eighth. Critically though for Jack’s championship challenge, he finished ahead of his nearest rival Ben Currie. As such, he enters the final round with a points advantage of twenty one points.

All that remains for Honda Racing UK is the season finale at Brands Hatch, Kent, 11-13 October.

#1 Tommy Bridewell

It’s still not easy I must be honest, when I am riding on my own without coming under attack I can do the lap time and I know that my pace is good. There is just a couple of areas that we need to work on so that I can be competitive where I need to be competitive. I am happy, the team are doing a great job we just need to be clever and to be aggressive when we need to be and ride as hard as I can. In that first race, we gained some points on Kyle but lost some points to Glenn. I’ll take it at the moment. Then in race three we just didn’t have the pace to go with the Yamahas. It’s frustrating for sure but it could have been much worse. We’ve lost the championship lead but now all the pressure is on Kyle. We go to Brands with it all to play for. 

#18 Andrew Irwin

I think it was a solid weekend after a difficult couple of rounds with a fourth and two sixth place finishes. We used Oulton as a building weekend after missing Cadwell, and here at Donington we have shown some of that progress. I always enjoy coming to Donington, I know we shouldn’t look forward to certain tracks, but it is a circuit that I always love racing at and I knew that I could kick into gear heading towards the end of the season. It’s nice to get three strong rides and not be too far away from the win, we are working really well as a team and the momentum is building as we head to Brands. We were on the podium there earlier in the year and there is no reason why we cant be there once more. 

#4 Jack Kennedy

It was a really good race today, I knew I really had to push the Honda to stay on the pace of Stapleford and Currie, particularly as we were losing time in places and having to push even harder in other areas to make up the time again. We managed to do it though and managed to be in a position to try and push for the win towards the end. The second to last lap was my quickest lap which I am really happy with. Luke defended really well into the Melbourne Loop in the final lap which made it impossible to have a go for the win because he is so much stronger out of the final corner and the run to the line. I knew that I had to take second and take points out of Ben in the championship which we achieved. I don’t think the weekend could have gone any better, we leave the weekend twenty one points clear and I am very happy with the job that Honda and myself are doing. I can’t wait for the last round, even though I don’t want the season to be over!

#5 Dean Harrison

In today’s race it was a similar story to the races of late in all honesty. When we are running in clear air we have the pace of the leaders but if you get caught up in any of the early race shenanigans you just lose time and then passing in the race is super difficult. We tried to be a bit more aggressive this weekend and to get the elbows out early on but when you can’t run your own lines in the fight it is difficult to run your pace. We’re inside the top ten and working hard to keep improving.