Brands Hatch beckons Honda Racing UK
This weekend (23-25 July) Brands Hatch hosts the third round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, and for the first time since the 2019 season finale, spectators are able to attend and watch the racing action unfold at the Grand Prix circuit.
With fans back on the ground and a full-house expected, Honda Racing UK’s Glenn Irwin will be looking to further bolster his championship points aboard the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, where he’s currently sitting 12th in the overall standings.
Glenn’s teammates and rookies to the British series, Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi have another learning curve ahead of them this weekend, as neither have ridden the 2.4-mile Kent circuit before, so their weekend will be spent getting up to speed as soon as possible on their Fireblade machines.
For Tom in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship, the previous round at Knockhill kick-started his championship, and with two strong races he managed to gain valuable points moving him into seventh place in the standings - 32 points behind current leader Billy McConnell.
With fans now able to get trackside again after 18 months, Honda Racing UK’s 2021 team merchandise will be on-sale at Brands Hatch at the ‘Honda Pod’, which is located in the trade area.
Superbike first practice gets underway at 1pm on Friday 23 July, with Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 and Race 3 on Sunday, click here for the full timetable.
Glenn Irwin
My feeling is we go to Brands Hatch now with where we left Knockhill in terms of the package and discovering something new with the chassis which seems to help us use the SCX tyre, so we go there and roll with that. We will work on our weaknesses from last year and maintain our strengths. I definitely think that I can start my bid for more this weekend, of course you have to be in the Showdown before you think of anything else. The beauty of the Showdown is that I am only 18 points behind [8th place]. Last year it was good having no Showdown in the position we were in but this year it’s great having it! Of course we can start to build a tally of points and we go onto Thruxton where Andrew [Irwin] won on the past Fireblade, and wherever the previous bike was good, the new one seems to be better.
Ryo Mizuno
This weekend will be another challenge for us at a new circuit. This circuit is known as one of the most traditional circuits in British Superbike, and I am honoured to finally be able to race here. We have not had any testing so we will just go out there and see what happens, but we are ready and have studied onboard videos and data. I hope to enjoy every session and finish the races this weekend.
Takumi Takahashi
Brands Hatch is another new circuit for us this weekend, but I have been preparing for my first time there watching onboard videos. I am looking forward to getting there and seeing the circuit for the first time and also walking to see the track conditions before first practice on Friday. I am looking forward to the weekend and getting to race at Brands Hatch.
Tom Neave
I’m looking forward to this weekend, I feel we’ve got our season off the ground now after a bit of a bumpy start, but with the points from Knockhill and those two races in the bag, I feel more prepared and back in the swing of things. I’ve had another two weeks to get my knee stronger, back training how I was before and I’m feeling a lot better and focused. There’s a lot of excitement around this weekend with fans back, so it’s going to be a great atmosphere and what better place than Brands to welcome fans back. I’m coming into the weekend with no expectations, we’re in a good place off the back of Knockhill and I’m just excited to get racing again.