Honda in the thick of the action at stormy Oulton Park
The arrival of Storm Amy in the north west of England has presented schedule challenges and produced wild weather at Oulton Park for the penultimate round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB).
With factory entries for Tommy Bridewell and Dean Harrison in BSB, the team has maintained a strong performance in all conditions.
For Harrison, the five-time Isle of Man TT winner, it was a baptism of fire for his return to BSB action, having competed for Honda Racing UK alongside Jack Kennedy in the supporting Quattro British Supersport Championship so far this season.
Standing in for injured Andrew Irwin, the Yorkshireman and his regular Supersport crew had to work hard in Friday’s two Free Practice sessions, and did so commendably - only just missing out on the final Pre-Qualifying session for the top 12 fastest riders.
There would be drama to follow, however, as Harrison crashed in Saturday morning’s weather-delayed warm-up. While he received a precautionary check-up at the Medical Centre, his team hastened to repair the Fireblade with just 15 minutes available before the start of qualifying.
In the end, Harrison returned from his check-up just in time to complete one lap, and qualified in 23rd place on the grid for Race 1.
On the other side of the garage it was business as usual for Bridewell, however, who maintained a top-five presence in every session through Friday and Saturday, and would qualify in fifth place.
Race 1 was started but then abandoned due to heavy rain. The restart was declared to be a wet race and was held in blustery and squally conditions that ended with a dry track surface. Bridewell, on wet tyres, went on to finish sixth, while Harrison charged up through the field to claim 11th place.
“I was happy enough for sure in the race. I think ultimately the position we were in on the grid was impossible to know what the right position was to take on tyres. For sure the safer option was to go with the wets, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, because I think all of us would go for intermediates if we were to run that race again. I think under the pressure we made the correct decision, the bike was good, I really enjoyed riding it and we had strong pace. I maybe tried to conserve a bit of tyre at the start because I knew the tyre would drop fairly dramatically when it started to dry out. We ended up with a three-second deficit and although I caught a lot of that up, I used up a lot of the rear tyre. I think we were maybe lacking a bit of punch off the corners but hopefully we can have two strong races tomorrow.”
“I was happy enough for sure in the race. I think ultimately the position we were in on the grid was impossible to know what the right position was to take on tyres. For sure the safer option was to go with the wets, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, because I think all of us would go for intermediates if we were to run that race again. I think under the pressure we made the correct decision, the bike was good, I really enjoyed riding it and we had strong pace. I maybe tried to conserve a bit of tyre at the start because I knew the tyre would drop fairly dramatically when it started to dry out. We ended up with a three-second deficit and although I caught a lot of that up, I used up a lot of the rear tyre. I think we were maybe lacking a bit of punch off the corners but hopefully we can have two strong races tomorrow.”
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“Eleventh at the end of my first race back in BSB isn’t too bad. From the back of the grid there it was something of a race of attrition and tyre wear and choices. I went steady the first couple of laps and then tried to pick my way forward and figure out who had what tyres on and where to make a pass and things like that. I’ve got a lot to learn and now I’ve had a bit of wet time and a bit of dry time and a bit of halfway in between time out there on the track I’m having to learn it all pretty quickly. Massive thanks and apologies again for the little excursion earlier in the day today, it’s not what we want to be doing but the lads put it back together perfectly.”
“Eleventh at the end of my first race back in BSB isn’t too bad. From the back of the grid there it was something of a race of attrition and tyre wear and choices. I went steady the first couple of laps and then tried to pick my way forward and figure out who had what tyres on and where to make a pass and things like that. I’ve got a lot to learn and now I’ve had a bit of wet time and a bit of dry time and a bit of halfway in between time out there on the track I’m having to learn it all pretty quickly. Massive thanks and apologies again for the little excursion earlier in the day today, it’s not what we want to be doing but the lads put it back together perfectly.”