Honda Racing takes strong points from Thruxton
ThruxtonHonda Racing departs the sixth round of this year’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) with valuable points after a weekend of hard work.
In Saturday’s opening BSB race, the two factory Honda Fireblades finished line astern in fourth and fifth place, with Tommy Bridewell narrowly ahead of team-mate Andrew Irwin.
For Race 2 the pair lined up in 10th and 11th on the grid, and both riders were cleanly away. Unfortunately, an incident early in the race delayed Bridewell and he was eventually classified 11th. Irwin meanwhile ran an equally hard race in a hard-fought pack and crossed the finish line in sixth place.
The third and final BSB race of the weekend in Hampshire saw Irwin start from eighth place and Bridewell 11th. A smart getaway for Irwin was hindered by a racing incident that dropped him back through the field. Bridewell charged up through the field but later slipped back to claim an eventual tenth place finish, with the recovering Irwin having climbed back to seventh.
“Coming into this weekend having put the bike back to my 2024 settings felt like a big step forward. What that meant was, after leading the first race yesterday, I felt like we had a podium in us today. In the end, I was at the limit and over it on every lap, and no matter what I tried, it was just impossible to go any faster. So we’ll have to rethink it and aim to improve at Cadwell Park.”
“Coming into this weekend having put the bike back to my 2024 settings felt like a big step forward. What that meant was, after leading the first race yesterday, I felt like we had a podium in us today. In the end, I was at the limit and over it on every lap, and no matter what I tried, it was just impossible to go any faster. So we’ll have to rethink it and aim to improve at Cadwell Park.”
“It feels strange to say that, after the best points-scoring round of my season so far, I’m honestly a little frustrated. In the last race, if I hadn’t got pushed back to 14th and then used the tyre up getting back up through the field, I honestly think we had a podium in us. The bike was really, really good, which makes not getting that podium hurt a bit. But my guys did a fantastic job, they built a bike that really worked for us today. I’m really grateful to them and I hope we can continue to carry the momentum we’ve been building since Knockhill.”
“It feels strange to say that, after the best points-scoring round of my season so far, I’m honestly a little frustrated. In the last race, if I hadn’t got pushed back to 14th and then used the tyre up getting back up through the field, I honestly think we had a podium in us. The bike was really, really good, which makes not getting that podium hurt a bit. But my guys did a fantastic job, they built a bike that really worked for us today. I’m really grateful to them and I hope we can continue to carry the momentum we’ve been building since Knockhill.”