Celebrations at Brands Hatch for Honda Racing UK
Brands Hatch GP
Today at Brands Hatch for the final round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Tom Neave and the Honda Racing UK team are celebrating after being crowned the 2021 Pirelli National Superstock Champions with the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Going into the race Tom was 22-points ahead of his championship rival Billy McConnell, meaning that to secure the championship, Tom needed only four points, irrelevant if Billy won the race, but having qualified 19th there was some work to do for the Honda-rider.
Off the line Tom knew what he had to do and made his way through the pack lap by lap, and by lap seven he was up to 13th. Meanwhile up ahead Billy had taken the lead and the pair were both tied on points, however Tom rode carefully to keep pushing up through the pack where he eventually took the chequered flag in eighth place, and as the 2021 Pirelli National Superstock Champion.
Meanwhile in the British Superbike Championship, Glenn Irwin took a ninth place finish in the day's second race, but retired early from Race 3 following an engine issue. Plagued with a shoulder injury throughout the latter part of the year, Glenn finishes the season eighth overall having scored a win, two-second places and a third throughout the season.
For Glenn's teammates and BSB rookies Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi, the British championship has been an exciting, but a steep learning curve with new circuits to learn each time out. Finishing today's races in the points Takumi took a brace of 15th places, with Ryo finishing 20th in both.
Honda Racing UK will now look forward to the 2022 season, where the team will be announcing its plans very soon.
I felt confident in the last race of the day and I felt strong but a technical problem put me out of the race, which wasn't an ideal end to the season. But huge congratulations to Tom and the team, there's a good vibe, he's a rider with a lot of talent and deserved the title. It's been a rollercoaster of a season and huge thanks to my team, we've come a long way this year from where we started and they turned it around. We made the Showdown, four podiums, a race win and a couple of Pole Positions in what I would call a difficult year, it could have been much worse.
It was a difficult weekend. We did the best we could but we couldn't get the feeling right. It was a disappointing end to the season but it also showed that we can still improve. I have been racing in BSB this year and it has been a very good experience for me. I will continue to work hard every day to improve. Thank you very much to the team for the whole year.
In Race 2 I didn't get a good start and lost some places but I started to feel better with the swingarm that we have been using and I was able to push a bit more. In Race three I tried a different set-up to make it even better but I didn't get a good feeling and it was a difficult race. But I think we can see some possibilities to use this swingarm better after the last two races, so that's a good thing. Thank you to the team for all the hard work all year!
It's an absolute dream come true, it's not just a championship for me, but it's a championship for the whole team, all my crew, everyone who's supported me and got behind me - it's been a hell of a year and the best season to win the title in, I'm not just saying that as I've won this year, it's been unreal, the riders and the depth of field. I'm so grateful to Honda for giving me this opportunity three years ago when I wasn't too proven, so the championship is for them and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.