Double podium delight for Honda Racing UK at Thruxton
Thruxton
The Honda Racing UK team returned to the podium not once, but twice, with Glenn Irwin and Tom Neave both claiming third place finishes in today's Superbike (Race 2) and Superstock races aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Missing out on a podium finish yesterday after crashing out while running third, Glenn was determined to make amends and claim his first podium of the season. With a good start off the line Glenn was away in second place, where he remained unchallenged until the closing stages of the race.
On lap 17 Ryan Vickers, Bradley Ray and Tarran Mackenzie started to close the gap and applied pressure to Glenn, who had dropped back into fifth. Tarran had moved into second place, and a three-way battle for third commenced between Glenn, Ryan and Bradley. On the penultimate lap Glenn made his move and crossed the line in third place, to take his first podium of the year. Wrapping up the final race of the day in sixth place, Glenn has moved into the top ten in the overall standings with 81 points.
Glenn's teammates Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi also enjoyed their weekend at the 2.35-mile circuit, where today Takumi scored his first-ever BSB points finishing Race 2 in 15th place. Ryo also progressed with his Race 2 lap times stronger than the group ahead, managing to keep his times within a second.
Not content with his fifth place finish in yesterday's first Pirelli National Superstock race, Tom Neave went into today's 14-lap race with a podium finish firmly in his sights. Getting pushed back at the start Tom made his way back through the pack and by the seventh lap he was sitting fourth. The closing stages of the race Tom was taking time out of his rivals and positioning himself ready to make the move on third place. On the penultimate lap, Tom moved into third place and held off Luke Mossey and Lewis Rollo to claim his first podium of the season. Tom's Thruxton results see him move up in the overall standings to fifth in the series with 68 points.
The fifth round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship will take place 13-15 August at Donington Park on the National Circuit, where the Honda Racing UK team will be looking to repeat the success they achieved in 2020 at the circuit.
I'm happy with the weekend in terms of points and managing to reduce the gap to the Showdown, despite yesterday's crash. The Honda worked very well and on another day I reckon we could have had a 2-2-6, but it wasn't to be. I can't complain too much as I was happy to take my first podium of the season and also the team. Race 3 I learnt a lot and gained a lot of confidence at the end of the race, with the rain heavier at the end I started to really get into the groove. At the beginning when there was damp patches I lost a lot of time and when Andrew [Irwin] went past me it really woke me up! Big thanks to the team and I look forward to Donington National, where I have great memories from last season.
I had a good feeling in today's warm up session in the morning and went for the Race 2, but I was last on the grid, which affected the result a lot. It was a frustrating race because I had a good pace, but it was an experience. Race 3 was a difficult race with wet conditions, which started to dry towards the end, but I wasn't able to make much progress. It's been a difficult week but I'm sure the experience I gained in Race 2 will be useful in the future races and I'll continue to do my best!
I was able to understand the track little by little with each ride and for the second race I got the best feel of the weekend. The time difference is still big, but the feeling in dry conditions is getting better.
The wet conditions of the final race could not be increased from the beginning until the end of the race.
The next Donington also ride for the first time, but I will continue to work hard.
I think I've got the monkey off my back now, we've got our four bogey tracks out the way and some good tracks ahead of us where we had a lot of success at last year. I think this is just the start of getting back on top of riding that wave of success again. I needed a difficult race yesterday to make me have a better race today, I learnt a lot from it and really needed that podium to be honest after the three rounds we've had. There's still time to turn the championship around, there's still a lot of races to go and I think we can get back to our winning ways!
