Saturday’s action of round six of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship became a damp affair when the rain started to fall in the middle of eBay Qualifying and refused to abate for the rest of the day. With rain falling in all sectors, Honda Racing riders Tom Neave and BSB class newcomer Franco Bourne, secured nineteenth and twenty-third on the grid respectively aboard their factory Fireblades for the late afternoon sprint race.

Under dark grey clouds and with rain falling heavily, the lights went out and the twelve-lap dash began. Both Honda Racing riders had in fact never raced the Honda Fireblade Superbike in the wet, so each lap was a learning experience as they searched for traction in the slippery conditions. 

As the frontrunners completed their seventh lap, the race was red flagged due a significant oil spill on the circuit. And with persistent rain falling the race result was declared at the time of the flag. Franco secured himself a twenty first place finish and the same position grid slot for tomorrow's first feature race. Tom Neave, struggling in the wet for confidence, would finish in twenty fourth.

Meanwhile at the front of the Superbike race, fellow Fireblade rider Danny Kent put Honda back onto the podium for the first time since the final round of 2022 with a sensational second place.

In the Pirelli National Superstock Series, championship leader Dan Linfoot had rocketed his Optimum Bikes Racing Fireblade onto pole position with a lap time that would have placed him eighteenth on Free Practice combined times in British Superbike. Joe Talbot, JR Performance Racing, was the highest finisher in the race with a second-place finish, his first podium of the year.

The Honda Racing team will be back in action tomorrow for the two twenty-lap feature races, which roar into life at 13.35 and 16.35.