Progress made at Oulton Park for Honda Racing UK
Oulton ParkThe Honda Racing UK team is leaving the second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with a brace of top ten finishes
The Honda Racing UK team is leaving the second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with a brace of top ten finishes, having made progress throughout the weekend with the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Following his 11th place in yesterday's opening race, the team worked hard to improve on areas Glenn was struggling with, and digging deep in both 18-lap races, Glenn finished ninth and seventh, which is a fantastic result all-round for the Honda squad. The results from today keep Glenn at the sharp end of the championship, where he's sitting second overall - just six points shy of current leader Bradley Ray.
Progress was also made for Takumi Takahashi, who after finishing 21st in Race 2, was chasing down the points in the final race of the day, and by mid-race was 14th. However, towards the end of the 18 laps, having felt some vibrations and suffering with arm pump, he dropped back to just outside the points to cross the line 17th. Meanwhile it was a disappointing weekend for Ryo Mizuno, who wasn't able to make progress from his 22nd place finish in yesterday's outing, where today he finished 22nd and 21st respectively.
Sadly it was an early end for BSB rookie Tom Neave who crashed out of the final race of the day on the opening lap at turn one. Tom was taken to the on-site medical centre with concussion and has been taken to hospital for further checks. The early end was a huge blow to Tom, who had finished Race 2 in the points in 15th place.
The Honda Racing UK team now have a break in the BSB Championship before Round 3 at Donington Park (20-22 May), and now turn its attention to the Roads and the International North West 200, which takes place from 10-14 May, where Glenn Irwin and John McGuinness will be in action aboard the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Today was good, we managed to make a lot of progress in a key area we have struggled with all weekend, thanks to the team. We sat down last night and put our heads together and came up with a solution, and a direction to help us move forward, which was probably one of my best rides on the Honda at Oulton Park. We did say before it was difficult and it continued to be, but even so it was an enjoyable weekend. We made a step forward today and collected nine solid points in Race 3, and now we look forward to the North West 200. Get well soon to my teammate Tom, and well done to Bradley [Ray]!
There are no words. No matter what we do, things are not going in the right direction and we are still in a difficult situation. I regret the fact that my position has not improved further from yesterday's Race 1. We will try once again to solve the problems one by one.
In Race 2 I was able to improve my lap times, but it wasn't enough and I had to think about how I should ride on this track and on this bike. In Race 3, the feeling was better than in the second race and the pace improved, so I tried to get some points. But last few laps to go I felt vibrations in my machine and struggled with an arm pump, and thereforeI lost some positions. I will improve for the next races at Donington, including my body.