Home round bound for Honda Racing UK
This August bank holiday weekend, Honda Racing UK heads just six miles down the road to Cadwell Park for round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship and the team’s home round.
Nestled in the rolling hills of Lincolnshire, Cadwell Park is wholly unique and is arguably the jewel in the championship crown. The 2.18-mile undulating circuit consists of all manner of corners and is popular with riders and fans alike with its festival-like weekend atmosphere. In fact, the ‘party in the park’ is regularly the best-attended round of the year.
For Honda Racing UK riders Tommy Bridewell and Jack Kennedy this round presents another opportunity to extend their points advantage at the top of their respective series championship standings.
In BSB, Tommy now has a twenty-five-point lead over nearest rival Kyle Ryde. A former winner and multiple times podium finisher at Cadwell Park, Tommy heads to Honda’s home round in a determined mood confident that it is a circuit that will suit his style and the character of the Fireblade.
Teammate Andrew Irwin sets his sights firmly on continuing the strong run of speed that he has shown in recent rounds, fully aware that solid results could be on the cards. Fresh from a recent team test at the venue, he expects to hit the ground running come the customary Friday evening superbike test session.
In Supersport, Jack Kennedy is committed to maintaining his hot streak of race results after six wins and a second from the last eight races sent him to the top of the standings with a slim five-point lead. Joining him once more in the middleweight series, Dean Harrison heads to Cadwell boosted by the positives of his recent testing outing.
The Honda Racing UK team will roll out of pitlane for the first time in the Friday evening superbike test session scheduled at 17:00 - 19:30. For a full weekend schedule, click here.
#1 Tommy Bridewell
We may not have come away from Thruxton with a haul of trophies, but we achieved our objective of extending the championship lead at a round that we know our competitors are strong. Heading to Cadwell next, it’s important that we keep our heads down and keep on working together to maximise everything. The circuit rewards being precise and accurate, nailing all of your markers and it definitely suits my style. It’s a circuit that I have been strong at in the past and I’m excited to see what results we can achieve with the Fireblade.
#18 Andrew Irwin
Cadwell is such a unique circuit and it’s always one of the circuits that you most look forward to, especially as a Honda rider with it being their home round. I missed riding it last year so I’m definitely excited to get back out and go racing. We had a small test there last week which was really positive and will help us to hit the ground running on Friday evening in the test session. We’ve built up some good momentum of late which I want to maintain going forward. I’m keeping my feet on the ground and hoping to build throughout the weekend.
#4 Jack Kennedy
To get back onto the top step of the podium again last time out just shows the progress that we are continuing to make with this project. It’s a credit to all of the hard work the team and I are putting in. We expected our competitors to be strong at Thruxton, so to come away with a competitive second and the win in the longer race is fantastic for our championship. I expect Cadwell Park's unique layout and characteristics to suit our bike even better, which means we should be on for a good weekend.
#5 Dean Harrison
I’m looking forward to having another go on the CBR600RR at Cadwell Park this weekend. We had a quick test there last week straight after the Thruxton round which went well. We just missed out on our target of a top-six last time out with the penalty but I am confident that we can go better at Cadwell as I think the circuit will suit the bike. Cadwell is always a great circuit to ride so I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing what we can do.