Jack Kennedy is the 2024 British Supersport champion

Race Report Saturday 12th October 2024

In a dramatic Saturday at Brands Hatch for the Bennetts British Superbike season finale, Jack Kennedy secures the British Supersport championship for Honda Racing UK with win number nine of the season.

Changeable October weather played a crucial part in the trajectory of the day's racing as almost every session that Honda Racing UK participated in was in different conditions. And with so much at stake, cool heads were required to ensure that the right decisions were made at all the right times whilst under enormous pressure.

For Jack Kennedy and his crew, tyre choice in a wet but drying qualifying session was critical to providing Jack with the bike, and rubber, underneath him to rocket his way to pole position. Then as the red flag was waved bringing his race to a premature end, they made the right call once more to send him back out on wet tyres in the five-lap restarted race. From pole once more and with his championship rivals opting for slicks, Jack launched away from the line and rode off into the distance with the rain intensifying to secure his ninth win of the season and championship victory.

Already the most decorated British Supersport rider in history, Kennedy rewrites the history books as a five times champion and becomes the first Honda rider to win the British Supersport crown since Sam Lowes in 2010. With one race still remaining this season he has so far raced to nine victories (including two doubles - Knockhill & Brands Hatch), four seconds and a further two third place finishes.

In British Superbike things were no less dramatic for riders Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin as they raced through heavy rainfall for twenty laps in the opening BSB race of the weekend. From sixth on the grid Tommy once more showed the sheer grit and determination with which he has ridden all year to secure a vital rostrum finish in third. This crucial result cuts Kyle's lead in the championship to a single point with two races remaining tomorrow. Andrew Irwin meanwhile, struggled for feel from his Fireblade and achieved an eleventh place finish at the flag.

For Dean Harrison it was an eventful day that sadly culminated in a crash out of second place in the shortened five lap Supersport dash. He does however, start tomorrows feature race from pole position having set the quickest lap in today's race.

Team Manager Havier Beltran

What a fantastic result for Jack and the team! Jack has been a breath of fresh air in the team this year and he has impressed me enormously with his determination, professionalism and attention to detail. His hunger to secure his fifth championship and to help drive this project forward has been relentless, and this championship victory is a just reward for his remarkable talent on a motorcycle. It is also a credit to every member of this team, it is their dedication, their commitment to the long hours and their unwavering work ethic that has built the platform on which Jack can deliver on the circuit. There is not a single team member who has not impressed me this year and I thank every one of them for their contribution to this team.

#1 Tommy Bridewell

Honestly it was hard because any race over 20 laps in the wet is! In the wet conditions, it’s not the physical side, it’s keeping your focus. You don’t ever get any margin to make a mistake if you clip a white line, brake a bit too hard, if you run wide. There’s no margin. I knew we needed to get away, we’ve got a new swing arm this weekend and for the race the team took a calculated risk with the setup. The bike was working great, and I just knew I needed to get away with the front guys. It was nice to see on my pit board that I had like an eight and a half second gap. Just the last five laps when the track was drying out I just started to spin up a little bit. And no disrespect to those guys, but where the Yamaha is just a little bit more docile it kind of chugs along if you like.

I’m happy, honestly. Those conditions are so easy to make a mistake and we didn’t. We went in four points behind, we’ve come out of it one point behind. A three point gain is better than no points. And it sets it up tomorrow really nicely because in the dry I feel like the bike is working really well. I feel great on the bike and I feel like I can really just attack. I’m excited – which is strange when there’s so much at stake. May the best man win!

Race 1 = P3

#18 Andrew Irwin

I struggled in the race today to get confidence and feel, which ultimately made it very difficult for me to make any progress and cost me to much time. As the conditions started to dry later in the race the feeling started to come back to me but by that point the race is done and the guys in front had gone. We have ninth on the grid tomorrow which is a step forward. I have to say a thank you for the team for rebuilding the bike in such a short space of time in qualifying after I crashed on Glenn's oil. And I also want to congratulate Jack on his championship victory, he has ridden the wheels off that bike all year and I look forward to celebrating with him.

Race 1 - 11th

#4 Jack Kennedy

I am absolutely lost for words! I did not expect this today at all, I really didn't think that I could get it done because the championship is too close and I thought there was no way that Ben or Luke wouldn't finish in the top three. I think it all started with qualifying onwards and making the right decisions at all the right times. I want to say a massive, massive thank you to this Honda team, I get to go out on track and show everybody my class but I wouldn't be able to do it without the team. It is down to these last minute decisions and how quickly you can make the changes, and you know, we have changed our mind about tyres for most of the weekend with the weather. In the race we made a brave choice to go for wet tyres because as we left for the grid the rain wasn't that heavy. Then on the grid I was screaming to myself inside my helmet because I knew we made the right decision and the rain was getting heavier and heavier. I felt that I was riding a safe race and the gap just kept getting bigger and bigger, which is such a good feeling.

I want to thank everybody who helps me, all my sponsors, my family, and everyone who supports, everyone knows how much hard work goes on behind the scenes to pull something like this off so I want to say thank you. I can enjoy tonight, relax tomorrow a little, but not on track because anyone who knows me will know I will be going out again tomorrow to get that win.

Race 1 - 1st

#5 Dean Harrison

To say that today has been eventful would be putting it bluntly! Qualifying didn't go as planned, the rain was falling and we switched tyres three times before we had even left pit lane, and that's before we had two red flags. So I never really got a flow on in qualifying and ended up starting the race from tenth. In the dry race I made some good progress to be fair and was up in a group battling well inside the top ten, then the race was red flagged. Then we made the right call for the restarted shorter race and went with a wet tyre and I tucked the front at Paddock Hill whilst running second. So all in all, today was eventful. We start pole tomorrow so we will see what we can do from there.

Race 1 - DNF