It’s off to Snetterton for Honda Racing UK
After the spoils of round four at Knockhill and a successful private test, Honda Racing UK now heads south to Snetterton this weekend for round five of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with riders Tommy Bridewell and Jack Kennedy sitting proudly atop the championship standings in Superbike and Supersport.
At just shy of three miles in length, Snetterton played host to Tommy’s first BSB weekend triple last season and the reigning champion heads to the Norfolk circuit in a confident mood after chalking up his first Honda victory last time out. Equally impressive is his current streak of six consecutive podium finishes. A feat last equalled in the team by Alex Lowes in his championship-winning year of 2013.
It was not only Tommy who made the journey to the top step of the podium at a wet and wild Knockhill though, for Jack Kennedy made a dominant return to winning ways with a double victory, proving that he is indeed a force to be reckoned with in any conditions. With a championship lead of nine points a just reward for his consistency and speed, he looks to continue his strong form and extend his advantage further.
Also making a welcome return to the BSB podium, Andrew Irwin cemented his progress and upturn in fortunes with a fantastic third-place finish at Knockhill. A clear indication of his return to competitiveness, Andrew eyes further progress this weekend.
Hoping to put a disappointing Knockhill behind him, Dean Harrison heads to the complex and challenging Snetterton circuit keen to bounce back and return to the points-scoring positions.
Round five roars into life on Friday 5th of July, ahead of a weekend of qualifying and racing action. For a full timetable please click here.
#1 Tommy Bridewell
It was great to get a quick run out last week at Snetterton before we head there for the next round. The test was really positive in truth, I was really fast compared to the race pace that we were doing last year, so to be doing that but on the SC0 tyre is promising. Lap time wise and feel, we are in a good position heading to round five. Going to somewhere that you have performed at previously is a hard one sometimes because you go back and you expect to do well again. That creates a bit of pressure, and there is an element of pressure now we are leading the championship anyway, but I thrive on that. I won’t be doing anything different now that I’m leading, it’s just the same as always. This time last year I had eight podiums with one extra race at round one, and I know how good that package is too, so to be sitting here now with seven podiums from eleven races with a brand new package is credit to everyone for all the hard work we’re putting in. The target is to extend the championship lead, and we’re heading to a track that I won all three races at last year, so it’s a good place to be heading to.
#18 Andrew Irwin
I’m looking forward to going to Snetterton, it is a track that I have always enjoyed in the past and I have always had quite good results. I didn’t get to go there last year, so I’m looking forward to going there with the team. I feel good at the moment and we’ve made some really good progress over the last few rounds. I want to try and continue that progression but not place any unnecessary pressure on myself. As long as we continue to progress then we are achieving our goal. We had some good speed, especially in the dry at Knockhill, which I hope to bring with me to Snetterton and keep the momentum going into the summer.
#5 Dean Harrison
I’m looking forward to getting back out on the Fireblade after some time off between the races. It’s been good to take a little break and charge the batteries. Knockhill just didn’t click for me so I’m keen to get to Snetterton and put together a better weekend and show our true potential. We had a quick test there last week which went well and gave us some important information heading into the weekend, so hopefully we can hit the ground running on Friday and just build from there. I think if we can walk away with three good point-scoring finishes then I will be happy.
#4 Jack Kennedy
I am really confident heading to the next round at Snetterton, especially after a little test there last week. I am going to approach the round exactly the same as we did at Knockhill, it worked for us there, for me and for the bike in a race situation. I expect to struggle a little on the big straights against the bigger cc bikes, but we will keep the faith, keep working hard and keep eating rice cakes so we can be quicker! We are working hard behind the scenes though to make sure that we have the most competitive bike that we can. Our pace in the test was strong, especially given the track temperatures at the time, which is promising.