Donington Park GP beckons for the penultimate round of the championship
Donington Park GPThe penultimate round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place this weekend (1-3 October), where the series returns to Donington Park on the GP layout, after competing on the National circuit earlier in the season.
The penultimate round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place this weekend (1-3 October), where the series returns to Donington Park on the GP layout, after competing on the National circuit earlier in the season.
It’s an important round for Tom Neave who arrives leading the Pirelli National Superstock Championship by 20 points. With three races left of the championship for Tom, it’s all to play for as he fights to keep his championship hopes alive.
Having claimed a second place, as well as a victory aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP on the National layout in August earlier this year, the Leicestershire circuit is a happy hunting ground, where Tom has enjoyed multiple wins and podium finishes.
Donington Park is a circuit that suits the CBR not only in the Superstock class, but BSB Showdown contender, Glenn Irwin has also enjoyed success at the track. Claiming two-second place finishes in August, Glenn also finished second in 2020 on the GP layout.
Ryo Mizuno is targeting a top-ten finish this weekend after scoring his first-ever BSB points at Donington Park. A favourite circuit for the BSB rookie, Ryo is looking to improve on his best result this season of 12th. Teammate Takumi Takahashi is also looking to improve his fortunes after a mixed few rounds.
Superbike first practice gets underway at 13:00 on Friday 1 October, with Race 1 taking place on Saturday and Race 2 and Race 3 on Sunday. Click here for the full timetable.
Donington is a circuit I feel I go well at and the Fireblade show its potential, so having made improvements at Oulton Park last weekend before Donington, it will help us. We have a good package at Donington and we can fight for strong results, which we have shown in the past. In terms of the championship, making the Showdown was one thing despite it being a difficult season, and now we’ll do our best to fight hard and see if we can close in on the top five.
It's race weekend again and Donington Park is one of my favourite circuits, where I got my first BSB points, and I'm looking forward to it, even though it's my first time on the GP layout. I'm looking forward to working with the team to achieve a top 10 finish.
I'm looking forward to Donington Park because I've raced there once before, but this time it's the GP track and a bit different from last time, so I'll try to understand it as quickly as possible. I have not had a satisfactory result this year, so I will ride as hard as I can to get a good result.
Donington Park is up there as one of my favourite circuits on the calendar, I love the place and we’ve always had good results with the new Fireblade, whether it’s on the GP or National track. My main priority and focus this weekend is to enjoy it and not pile the pressure on, take each race as they come and fingers crossed everything falls into place. Last year we had mixed conditions and this weekend it’s looking the same, so we know we can perform well come rain or shine.