As the sun sets on a superb day of racing at Brands Hatch for round six of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Honda Racing UK celebrates a sweep of podium finishes with a first for Jack Kennedy in supersport and a two, three finish in superbike for Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin.
On the anniversary of his brother’s passing, Tommy Bridewell channelled the emotion of the day to earn himself a hard-fought second-place finish, and with it drew level on points with his championship rival Glenn Irwin at the top of the standings. Earlier in the day he had saved an enormous uncharacteristic rear wheel slide at the final corner, which ultimately cost him a front-row grid position. Needless to say, he was undeterred in his pursuit of a podium from his fifth-place qualifying position and made multiple decisive overtaking moves on his competitors. His sheer will and desire to perform was palpable and mastering the emotion of the occasion showcased the remarkable level at which he is performing.
Teammate and fellow podium finisher Andrew Irwin rode a composed and mature ride from a frustrating qualifying position of eleventh through the pack to finish right on the rear wheel of his championship-winning Honda peer. His popular return to the fight at the front of the field cements his upturn in performance. This third-place finish marked his second rostrum visit of the year and moves him up to eleventh in the championship standings, mere points away from the top ten.
It was not only towards the front of the field that Honda riders were excelling however, Dean Harrison, although frustrated not to score points in his first race, lapped the 2.4 mile circuit quicker than he ever has before. From a qualifying position of twenty-first, he fought hard through the field and was beaten by the smallest of margins at the line to finish in sixteenth. With a better grid slot in tomorrow’s opening race however, the target is more.
In the ten-lap supersport sprint, Jack Kennedy made it four wins from five races, after emerging victorious following a race-long duel with championship rival Ben Currie. There was barely a moment to catch your breath as the two put on a masterclass of clean hard racing, each leading at different stages of the race. As they crossed the line though it was Jack who claimed the spoils, with a winning margin of just 0.015 at the flag.
#1 Tommy Bridewell
That was a strong race for definite on a day like today, which in truth was tough. I didn’t feel at the races today until the race started, then once we got going I started to feel like I knew what I was doing. I felt good on the bike. Credit to Ryan, he did a cracking job, got out front and cleared away. I had a good go at catching him for sure. Had a good battle with Glenn and Christian as we came back through. I knew if I could get in front of them, with my advantage on braking I’d be able to gap them, which we did. When I came over the line, I was really chuffed to see Andrew behind me on the podium in third which was great, I’ve seen the progress he’s been making of late and it’s great to see. He’s a really good kid and it’s good to see him coming strong.
#18 Andrew Irwin
I gave that everything I could, coming from eleventh through the pack and it feels great to be on the podium. I got a decent start and then got shuffled back a little bit before settling into a rhythm that was quite consistent and I was happy with. I was then starting to have a few little moments but I thought to myself, I am going to keep on pushing anyway. We came from eleventh to third, and it’s probably the first podium that I’ve had where I’ve come through the field. I’ve shown a little bit of aggression which is good and the team have been working really well, it shows where the Fireblade is at the moment. We will keep on working and see if we can improve on some things, particularly late in the race when the tyre drops. I think with a better grid slot we can be in that fight once more.
#5 Dean Harrison
It’s a bit frustrating to miss out on a point by next to nothing, but I focus on the positives, I’ve set my quickest-ever lap of Brands and we’ve been slowly building throughout the weekend. We made a big change to the bike before the race which made a big difference and from there we got stuck into the fight. I do think we have the potential to make another step and go even better tomorrow.
#4 Jack Kennedy
What a great race! I hope we put on a good show for everyone at home. It was good, hard clean racing with Ben, it was fantastic to be a part of and I really, really enjoyed it. We definitely got the most out of the Honda today, the team has done an amazing job. It feels good to get another win, these results are what we need, especially after our little mishap at Snetterton. I didn’t know how close it was going to be over the line, but I was just praying that I could get the run to the line, I had everything tucked in and I was saying ‘come on Honda get me over the line I can hear the Ducati coming!’ It was just such a great race, and I can’t wait to go again tomorrow.
As the halfway point of the season passes, Jack Kennedy leaves Brands Hatch having secured his twenty-third Supersport double victory and his fifth win in the last six races.
The first Bennetts British Superbike race of the day was a disrupted affair after a turn-one incident required a brief safety car period before a separate incident brought out the red flag on lap seven. As a result, it was just a five-lap dash for the opening honours. Having both positioned themselves in the front running positions in the race’s first running, Tommy and Andrew lined up for the restart in second and sixth, whilst Dean Harrison had too made progress and would start in seventeenth.
With Ryan Vickers breaking away at the front, Tommy found himself in a heated battle for second as he was hounded by Kyle Ryde almost from the off. Andrew meanwhile had made a strong start to the race and was chasing down the battling duo ahead as he occupied fourth position. Holding off the attacks of Ryde, Tommy was able to maintain position at the flag to secure a second-place finish and his eleventh visit to the podium this year. Andrew crossed the line in a strong fourth whilst Dean was eighteenth.
In the second BSB race of the day, Andrew’s impressive pace earlier in the day secured him a front row grid slot in third from which he rocketed away from the line and was up into second place for the early stages of the race. Tommy at this stage had to battle hard from fifth on the grid to get away with a quartet of riders fighting for second. Dean by this point had raced through into the points scoring positions after a strong start to the race.
At half race distance, the Honda duo of Andrew and Tommy found themselves nose to toe in fourth and fifth as Iddon and Ryde ahead were beginning to break away. Cutting past his teammate Tommy sensed the duo ahead were stretching a lead and he upped his pace to follow. Personal best sectors and laps followed as Tommy joined a three-way scrap for second. But a repeat podium just wasn’t meant to be for Tommy who crossed the finish line in fourth. Andrew was not far behind in fifth and Dean slipped back from his points position late in the race to finish in nineteenth position.
For Tommy, a pair of seconds and a fourth place finish lift him to the top of the championship standings with a lead of nineteen points whilst Andrew Irwin now occupies ninth position after his string of top six finishes continues.
The spoils of the day though belonged to Jack Kennedy in Supersport. He put on a racing masterclass once more to secure the double and his fifth win of the season. This moves him to just four points adrift of the championship lead.
The Honda Racing UK team now takes some well-earned time off before heading to Thruxton in a few weeks time for round seven.
#1 Tommy Bridewell
The team is working great, and working really hard, there are just a few areas here and there that we are struggling with compared to our competitors. I knew that I had to keep my nose clean in race one and box smart. I can’t take anything away from Ryan. I thought if he went then I was going to try and sit there with him and try keep him honest, but in truth we didn’t quite have his pace. Then later in the race I saw ‘plus zero Ryde’ on my board and I thought ‘Oh here we go it’s just like Brands six months ago for the championship!’ Race two we made a change to try and make a step so that I could at least try and fight for the win with Ryan, but it just wasn’t the right direction. I think we maximised what we had available today though, although I think we probably would’ve had the pace for another second if we hadn’t made the change. Look, I might be a bit frustrated but the truth is we’re back in the lead of the championship with a nineteen-point lead which is credit to the work that we are all putting in.
#18 Andrew Irwin
Honestly, this weekend has been good, it’s another weekend of consistency. To walk away with a third, fourth & fifth shows that we are in a strong position and making positive steps forward. I am just really enjoying my racing at the moment, I’m in a really good place on and off the track and the results are now starting to come and we are beginning to show what we are capable of. It can be frustrating when you get onto the podium and then fail to replicate that result in the other races, but to come away from the weekend frustrated with a fourth and fifth is a clear sign of where we are, and where we are headed. We have to make another step to fight right at the front, and I say that with complete honesty as that’s who I am. But with that step, which I am confident we can do, we will be in for a strong final half of the season.
#5 Dean Harrison
It’s been a bit of a frustrating weekend to tell the truth, and the results don’t necessarily match the progress that we’ve made throughout the weekend. It’s the first weekend that we haven’t had any little problems or curveballs to deal with which has meant that we have been able to build from the start. I’ve lapped even quicker again today than I have previously, but I got a bit stuffed at the restart in the first race today. Then in race two we worked our way up and into the points before getting shuffled back towards the end of the race. We were in a train of seven or eight riders and once one comes past they all just follow and it gets a bit scrappy. Focusing on the positives though, we’re lapping faster and making progress.
#4 Jack Kennedy
I was happy to get out in front because I knew I was able to set a really strong pace and see who was able to come with me, I had a feeling that it was only going to be Ben who could. I settled into my rhythm really quickly and tried to break them and got my gap up to 0.6. Then I noticed that the gap was slowly coming back down even though I was maintaining my pace, so I knew that Ben was bridging the gap back to me. At that point, I thought that this wasn’t going to all go my way. He then came past me on the back straight, as he has all weekend, but he made a mistake and I was able to come back past him again. I knew starting the last lap he would try at the end of the back straight and I just had to be ready. I managed to get the drive down Dingle Dell, defend the position and hold it all the way to the line to get the win. Massive thank you to the team, they have been flawless all weekend and we’ve just continued to improve the bike throughout the weekend.
Posted on Monday, July 22nd, 2024 in News
