Destination Donington for Honda Racing UK
This weekend Honda Racing UK journeys to the fast and flowing Donington Park circuit for round three of the Bennetts British Superbike championship eager to continue building on a successful Oulton Park and North West 200.
Fresh from his debut Honda podium finish, Tommy Bridewell heads to the Leicestershire circuit eager to continue fighting at the front and scoring solid points for his championship defence. He currently sits sixth in the championship with forty seven points and will be keen to kick on after a strong test at the 2.4 mile track earlier in the year.
Teammate Andrew Irwin looks to kickstart his season after a challenging opening two rounds. A multiple race winner at Donington Park, he will be hoping to find that good form once more and compete for the positions that he knows he is capable of.
After a successful venture to the North West 200, Dean Harrison returns to his short circuit duties in BSB with one eye focussing on the Isle of Man TT Races. He focuses on making it through the weekend in one piece and to continue making steps forward with his Fireblade.
On his CBR600RR, Jack Kennedy’s consistency and patience see him leading the Supersport championship by a single point heading to round three. Still early in the development phase of this new project and with three podium finishes to his name already, he targets more this weekend. Adding intrigue to the scheduled Supersport racing, multiple World Supersport riders will be making wildcard appearances.
Round three roars into life with Free Practice sessions on Friday 17th, ahead of a weekend of racing action. For a full timetable click here.
#1 Tommy Bridewell
I think really for me in truth, the first two rounds have been a lot more promising than perhaps we anticipated with having a brand new bike. Yes, we’ve had some teething issues, but our actual pace over race distance over the shorter race and over practice sessions has been really strong. It was nice to get my first podium of the year and the first podium for Honda in a really long time. We had some slight limitations at Oulton Park, but we got absolutely every ounce out of the bike, which is the main thing. Going into this weekend, it seems that the bike works very well at Donington Park. At the test, before the season had started, we had high winds and we were just working on feeling when we were there. It was my first ever time on the bike, but with the wind and everything against us, we were still up at the sharp end, in the top six, top seven somewhere. This time of the year for me is all about consolidating and building points on the board - just keep putting points on the board! We’re in a good position and that’s what we’ve got to build on.
#18 Andrew Irwin
This season obviously hasn’t got off to a great start but I look forward to Donington, it is a track that has always been quite good to me in the past and hopefully we can kickstart our season from there. I have to be realistic, I’m not going to go from fifteenth to first so I just want to make progress over the three races and continue to build closer to where we should be. I’m keeping my feet on the ground and focusing all of my efforts on building throughout the weekend.
#5 Dean Harrison
I’m looking forward to jumping back on my BSB bike at Donington after a pretty successful North West 200. I’m feeling good in myself and we know that the bike works well there after the test earlier in the year. I think we’ve made some more steps with the bike since then too so it’ll be good to go back again and have another crack. I’ll be doing my best to keep myself out of trouble as I’ve got one eye on the TT in a week or so. It’ll be good to learn a bit more about the bike this weekend, get through the weekend in one piece and then head to the big one.
#4 Jack Kennedy
Donington Park is a good circuit for me and I’ve experienced a lot of success there in the past. It’s a fast and flowing circuit which really suits my riding style and the characteristics of the bike. I’m hoping that with the hard work that the team have made on the bike and some of the changes that we have made it will be a little easier than the test earlier in the year. The package is getting stronger and stronger and I’m staying patient. The target is more solid points on the board, strong finishes and to focus on myself and my race. If we can do that we will be there or thereabouts. There’s a few World Supersport guys wildcarding here too which will make it that little bit more interesting.