Victory and second for Honda Racing UK at Donington Park
Donington Park National
Tom Neave stormed to victory in this afternoon's second Pirelli National Superstock Championship race aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, making amends for yesterday's penalty hit result, and scoring his first win of the 2021 season for the Honda Racing UK team.
Starting the 20-lap race from pole position, Tom got the holeshot and dominated the race from start to finish. Unchallenged throughout and with a flawless ride, Tom crossed the line 2.678 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Luke Mossey. The result from today see's the Honda-man jump into second place in the overall standings, with 113 points, joint with current series leader Alex Olsen.
The celebrations continued for the Honda squad when Glenn Irwin placed his Fireblade on the podium in the final Superbike race of the weekend in second place. Crashing out of Race 2 earlier in the day, Glenn had dislocated his left shoulder in the crash, but having been passed fit by the BSB medical team, Glenn lined up ready to fight in Race 3.
The race was restarted after rain started to fall at the circuit, and with a shorted distance of 20 laps ahead of him and intermediate tyres, he knew what he had to do when the lights went out. Breaking away early from the pack, Glenn took the lead in the early stages, but was eventually passed by Tommy Bridewell, where Glenn then settled into a good rhythm in second position. Crossing the line as runner-up, Glenn has racked up 40 points this weekend, after his second place in yesterday’s opening race and now sits seventh in the championship standings.
Ryo Mizuno enjoyed a good day at Donington scoring his first-ever BSB points in both of today’s races, finishing 15th and his highest placed finish to date in 13th in the final race. Teammate Takumi Takahashi had a challenging Sunday after suffering two DNF’s in today’s races. Making good progress throughout the weekend in terms of lap times, today he crashed out unhurt in Race 2, and retired in the final race after stalling on the grid and being caught by the leading race group.
In a summer of back to back races, the Honda Racing UK team will now look forward to heading to their home race Cadwell Park next weekend (20-22 August).
40 points, that’s what we look at this weekend and take away with us. Race 2 we had the crash, and I dislocated my shoulder, but you know we're not superhuman and this happens. I’m overwhelmed with everyone, like ‘you’re a hero’ but honestly on the bike I was fine, a little sore changing direction. I wouldn’t change that result in Race 3, my boys did a great job, the front tyre was a last-minute call, I don’t know if someone was looking over us but something made me want to change. I don’t normally feel comfortable in those conditions, but we done it and it’s been a great weekend. Eurosport did a fantastic feature on myself this weekend, I’m grateful for being able to talk about mental health and show that the official BSB team riders are all in this together, and to anyone who is struggling, if I bounce back today, you guys can overcome a lot more.
I was able to score my first BSB points, two races in a row. In Race 3, I had to use intermediate tyres for the first time in my racing career and it took me a while to understand them, so I was not able to improve my pace in the beginning. But this weekend I was able to meet my goal of improving my time in each session, and I'm making steady progress, so I'll continue to do my best with a smile on my face!
In Race2 I was riding a bit faster than my personal best time but halfway through I started to suffer arm pump and I couldn't keep my lap time. In the end I couldn't control the bike properly and crashed in the last corner, so I am sorry to the team. In Race 3, when I went to the grid, my engine stalled and I went to the escape zone because I didn't understand what happened. Then the engine started, and I managed to start the race from the pits. However, I retired from the race because of my delay to start, the lead group had caught me and was behind. Now I understand what happened at the start and I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again.
After what happened yesterday it made me more determined for the win, on paper I won the race, I rode my heart out and I was gutted to have it taken away from me. To lead today’s race from the first corner to the chequered flag was the perfect way to end the weekend and prove that I deserved to win. We’re joint first in the championship now with points, which I never expected coming into the weekend 37 points down. We head to Cadwell Park now, which is my home round and I know we can have a really strong weekend. This is a turning point for my championship hopes and I hope we can keep this good momentum going.