Honda Racing starts the weekend strongly at Knockhill

Honda Racing has made a bright start to Round 4 of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) and Quattro British Supersport Championship, on the series’ annual trip to Knockhill Circuit in Scotland.

The short, undulating circuit on the Scottish hillsides in Fife is a favourite for riders and fans alike, bringing a unique challenge to the visiting series. In wet and windy conditions during Friday’s Free Practice sessions, Tommy Bridewell showed consistent top-five pace on his Honda Fireblade, while team-mate Andrew Irwin underlined his return from injury by going straight into the pole position shootout for the first time since the season opener at Oulton Park in May.

In the end, an unexpectedly dry qualifying session meant a compromise setup on the Honda Fireblades, which resulted in Bridewell qualifying in eighth place and Irwin 11th.

In Supersport, Honda’s defending champion Jack Kennedy claimed his first pole position of the season as his bid to secure a sixth championship title in the class gathers momentum. Kennedy’s team-mate Dean Harrison, double Superstock TT winner last month on the Isle of Man, claimed seventh place just 0.3 seconds behind, showing the intensity of the competition.

The Supersport riders took the grid first and in mixed weather conditions it was a lottery on tyre choice. Kennedy was among those who made the correct call for wet front tyres and intermediate rear tyres, while Harrison was forced to pit at the end of the warm-up lap and start the race from the pit lane after a change.

Kennedy took the early lead and then fell back to fourth before surging back to second overall. Harrison meanwhile scythed through the field to finish in 17th place.

In the first of three BSB races, Bridewell capitalised on an improved setup to fight his way through to fifth place at the finish line. Irwin also moved up in a pitched battle but opted to ensure that he finished and took the flag in tenth place.

Tommy Bridewell

“Tough race for sure. I think, in the grand scheme of things, I’m happy. I didn’t feel too confident going into that race, because we didn’t do the test here, so we were unsure of the dry setup. It’s been unexpectedly dry today, which is nice after the torrential rain during practice, but in FP3 we put the bike back on the dry settings from Snetterton and then for qualifying we went dramatically different with our approach, which I wasn’t too happy with. That showed in the qualifying time that we got. For the race, we came back to a bit of a halfway house on the setup and the bike was a lot better. We just need to find a bit more in the weaker areas of the setup now. We can only work and keep doing what we do.”

Andrew Irwin

“Honestly, I just needed to finish a race – for myself as much as anything. For the team, too, because it’s been a difficult period. So 10th is something to build on. We have another two races tomorrow so hopefully we can do that. I lack race time, I think that’s part of the problem, but with these two more races tomorrow, we’ll give them a bit of a crack and try to close the gap to the riders ahead.”

Jack Kennedy

“In qualifying, we had a red flag incident to contend with, breaking up the session a bit, and the wind was quite hard to manage. I think it’s probably the closest pole position I’ve ever had in my life, by 0.001 seconds, but I’ll take it! The race conditions were treacherous and nobody knew the correct tyre choice. I wasn’t sure if my choice was right or not, but I got quite a good start, got into the lead, then tried to control the race. I could hear the other riders behind me so it was obviously quite a bit of a battle there, but I felt quite comfortable holding them off as long as I did. Then I started to feel the rear of the bike moving around quite a bit and a few people came by me, I dropped back to fourth place, and I could hear the guy in fifth closing up. I could see that the bikes ahead of me had gone for the same tyre choice, so I just said to myself that I needed to dig in and get my head back in the game. The track started to dry up a little bit as well, so I really started to push the limits and clawed my way up from fourth place to second. I’m happy. It was really treacherous conditions, a real gamble on the tyres, but we got some good points – so massive thanks to the team for giving me a bike that was exactly what I needed. Well done to the lads, and we’ve got another front-row start tomorrow to work from.”

Dean Harrison

“It was a good qualifying session. I got stuck in a little bit. I’d rather have been on Row 2 but it had to do – we didn’t have enough fuel in the bike for another run. My plan was to try and get a good start and go from there but it wasn’t a perfect tyre choice. Slightly wrong. So I had to start from the back. That was frustrating but we chipped our way through, there just weren’t enough laps. So we’ll put that one down to experience and start again tomorrow.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran

“Knockhill is full of surprises, particularly with inconsistent weather, so I think that the team should be proud of the way that they have thought on their feet and adapted throughout the first two days. In Supersport, Dean got a little bit wrong-footed, but his recovery ride was impressive and congratulations to Jack on a hard-won podium, which I am sure will show its value as we carry on deeper into the championship battle. With the Superbikes, it was very heartening to see Andrew get straight through to the pole position shootout for the first time since the first round. He’s battled injury, and now he delivered exactly what he and the team needed in terms of a finish to build from this weekend. Tommy, meanwhile, really showed what a fine racer he is in a hard-fought pack, and will be back stronger tomorrow.”

Honda Racing delivers on Knockhill promise

Honda Racing enjoyed a double celebration on the final day of Round 4 of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) and Quattro British Supersport Championship at Knockhill.

The Scottish summer weather once again looked somewhat wintry when the team returned to the paddock on Sunday morning, but while the rain fell it did not dampen the performance of its BSB riders as they lined up for the 20-lap Sprint race.

Tommy Bridewell’s Honda Fireblade started from fourth, dropped back to fifth but the former champion dug in to make two decisive passes and claim third on the podium. Bridewell’s team-mate Andrew Irwin meanwhile had a busy morning’s work, climbing to ninth and dropping back to 13th before making two critical passes of his own to take the flag in 11th place.

In the Feature Race for the Supersport class, Jack Kennedy’s Honda CBR600RR lined up on the front row in third place after his first visit to the podium on Saturday, while team-mate Dean Harrison sat on 13th after carving his way through from last place in the weekend’s opening encounter.

Kennedy got away cleanly to hold second place in the early laps, but disaster befell Harrison. The Yorkshireman lost the front end of his machine and fell, fortunately without injury.

Meanwhile, Kennedy had the pace to make his bid for the lead and, once ahead, pulled to almost a second clear of his nearest rival before they began to encounter backmarkers. It was to prove decisive as the gap opened and closed while the lead group made their way through, but the Irishman prevailed to claim his second win of the season.

Finally, the third BSB race of the weekend was halted twice by the deteriorating weather conditions. Irwin lined up sixth with Bridewell seventh based upon their respective fastest laps in the second race, but the forward progress of both riders was frustrated by the delays.

Eventually, the race restarted and, after circulating in formation, Irwin would finish in ninth position, with Bridewell in 13th.

Tommy Bridewell

“It was great for the team to be able to get another podium in the Sprint race. It was hard work and I was pleased with the way I was riding, for sure. That said, we’re still too far off the pace of our competitors, the Yamaha and Ducati, to really come away feeling completely positive. To say that I’m hungry for more would be a massive, massive understatement. We’re playing our hand as best we can, but I’m obviously frustrated, so we’ll have to see where we can get to at Brands Hatch.”

Andrew Irwin

“It was a weekend that I felt I needed to have. I’m not really here to race in the bottom of the top 10 but for me, coming back from a weekend as difficult as Snetterton, it’s a good step and it’s much better. We need to keep working in a calm, mannerly way and continue to progress and to continue that work at Brands Hatch. This was a good step on from Snetterton, now we need to do the same again. I know how to get to the podium and to win races in BSB, and I’ve got to be patient and work with the team to get ourselves back and get in a position to challenge further up the field.”

Jack Kennedy

“It couldn’t have gone any better. I managed to get one of my best starts of the year, I wanted to try a new technique and it really paid off thanks to some wise words from John McGuinness, so thanks to him for that! I really didn’t want to get swallowed by the pack in the top six when visibility was going to be a problem from the spray being thrown up so I felt comfortable in second. But then I didn’t want to get picked off by the pack behind me if I was just sitting there so I made my move and it worked, so I was delighted with that. In a wet race there’s nowhere better to be than out in front, and then I knew we would have a lot of people we’d have to pass when we started lapping people so I wanted to be in the best position to get through cleanly. It was a tough race but I’m delighted with my performance and the CBR600RR, the team has been fantastic, I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Dean Harrison

“It started off okay, the weekend, but all in all it’s been pretty disappointing. It went downhill pretty quickly and we will just have to put this one down to experience. It’s frustrating more than anything because our pace really wasn’t too bad. This circuit, the weather, it’s just crazy, really, isn’t it? Everyone’s in the same boat, of course, so we’ll just have to try again next time.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran

“Two podiums, of which one was a fine win for Jack, is a satisfying end to the Knockhill weekend. Certainly it puts him right back in the hunt for a sixth Supersport title, which is exactly what he and the team deserve. Dean was in the wars this weekend, but while it is frustrating, the nature of competition is that every so often you have events where you’re on the back foot. In Superbike, Tommy did the job that we all know he can do and pulled a podium out of the bag in the Sprint race. Meanwhile in the final race I think Andrew laid a few things to rest and will look back on a significant step back to competitiveness.”