Honda Racing in the thick of the action at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch GPMaking its first appearance of the 2025 season on the Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent, the Honda Racing team has enjoyed a competitive start to the weekend in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB).
This weekend, the primary BSB team and supporting Supersport entry have also been joined by 23-time Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness MBE, who is racing a Honda Fireblade in the Superstock class under the Honda Racing UK banner.
The BSB team saw Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin honing the performance of their Fireblades to the undulating Brands Hatch circuit through Friday’s Free Practice sessions. The fruits of these sessions were seen on Saturday morning, when Bridewell set the third fastest time with Irwin in fourth.
The Qualifying session saw light rain and a significant drop in temperatures confront the riders, with Bridewell taking a second row starting position for the first race, in sixth place, while Irwin qualified 11th.
These would also be the positions in which the riders took the chequered flag at the end of the first 20-lap encounter. Bridewell settled quickly into a rhythm and was able to maintain the gap to his nearest pursuer. Irwin meanwhile charged up to eighth by the mid-point of the race, but then fell back to 11th after a few minor issues took hold.
In his solo Superstock weekend, meanwhile, McGuinness meanwhile ran strongly throughout the Free Practice sessions, coming within a tenth of a second of his all-time fastest lap at Brands Hatch. Qualifying in 12th position, he comfortably beat his previous personal best, then rode a cautious race in damp but drying conditions to reach the finish in 14th place.
“Tough race for sure. I expected and wanted to have the pace to fight for the podium but I’m just still struggling with the bike to be honest. Just an immense amount of wheelie, really struggling with stopping the bike and rear grip. There’s not one specific area, it’s across all areas, so we need to go back to the drawing board for tomorrow, regroup and try again. I would prefer a dry race because at the minute we need dry track time and our testing has to be over a race weekend, which is not ideal, but it’s where we find ourselves. If it’s wet we’ll deal with it.”
“Tough race for sure. I expected and wanted to have the pace to fight for the podium but I’m just still struggling with the bike to be honest. Just an immense amount of wheelie, really struggling with stopping the bike and rear grip. There’s not one specific area, it’s across all areas, so we need to go back to the drawing board for tomorrow, regroup and try again. I would prefer a dry race because at the minute we need dry track time and our testing has to be over a race weekend, which is not ideal, but it’s where we find ourselves. If it’s wet we’ll deal with it.”
“I felt good for three-quarters of the race, and we started to get closer to the group in front. Then I just ran into a couple of little problems the last few laps, but hopefully we can find a resolution for tomorrow and look forward to tomorrow’s two races. It was a little bit all over everywhere with the weather before the start, but it was a dry race. I think my lap time was a tenth off my best in qualifying, and I’m pleased with my pace, so I think tomorrow we can go forward from there.”
“I felt good for three-quarters of the race, and we started to get closer to the group in front. Then I just ran into a couple of little problems the last few laps, but hopefully we can find a resolution for tomorrow and look forward to tomorrow’s two races. It was a little bit all over everywhere with the weather before the start, but it was a dry race. I think my lap time was a tenth off my best in qualifying, and I’m pleased with my pace, so I think tomorrow we can go forward from there.”