Not at all dissimilar to the rollercoaster-like nature of the Cadwell Park circuit, Sunday at round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship was an up-and-down affair for Honda Racing UK. A crash for Andrew Irwin in FP3 resulted in his withdrawal from the remainder of the day with a medical assessment due first thing to ascertain his fitness. 

In qualifying, Tommy then suffered a crash of his own and was unable to set a representative lap time. He therefore had to start the sole race of the day from twelfth, despite his impressive pace shown throughout the weekend to that moment. 

Putting it all behind him for the race however, Tommy made a fantastic getaway from the line and positioned himself decisively on circuit to rapidly move up the order. By the end of the opening lap, he was up into eighth place and hunting down those ahead. Just three laps later he was up into sixth with his 2023 championship rival Glenn Irwin two seconds up the road in fifth. 

Fast lap after fast lap followed and by lap ten he was right on the rear wheel of his competitor and clearly lapping with greater pace. Pulling a move into Park, Tommy was unable to make it stick as Glenn repassed him on the cutback. One lap later however Tommy pulled off the overtake and chased after O’Halloran ahead. 

Just a few corners later though, Glenn dived through at the chicane and Tommy had to take evasive action, cutting across the grass and losing time as a result. But with all of the grit and determination of a champion, Tommy refused to be beaten and closed back in once more and pulled off the same overtake. Only this time it was for good. Not content with fifth place he then scythed past O’Halloran and into fourth at turn one on the final lap, a position that he would hold to the line.

In supersport it was also a day of celebration and heartbreak as a double front row in qualifying for Jack Kennedy and Dean Harrison sent the team into the race in a buoyant mood. An almost race-long duel followed for the lead as Jack and rival Luke Stapleford battled hard under lap record pace for the majority of the race. Then with two laps to go disaster would strike as Jack crashed out of second place. 

Dean meanwhile had been battling hard from his third-place grid position to have a podium finish in sight on the final lap. Sitting in fourth on the final lap and right on the rear wheel of third, a move looked on the cards for a rostrum finish. In the run to the line out of the final corner though it just wasn’t meant to be as Dean finished agonisingly close to a podium visit and just 0.064 seconds back. 

The team will be back in action tomorrow for the remaining races of the round.