Brands Hatch beckons for Honda Racing riders
Honda Racing is ready for the return of world-class motorcycle racing to Brands Hatch this weekend (July 25-27), with the fifth round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB), and Quattro British Supersport Championship.
Fine weather and a bumper crowd can be anticipated at the Kentish circuit, which is the nearest venue on the calendar to the nation’s capital. With the full 2.4-mile Grand Prix circuit playing host, fans can enjoy both the natural amphitheatre of the ‘Indy’ circuit and the fast, flowing woodland section of this historic track.
The factory Honda team has been on an upward trajectory throughout the season to date, with its first regular season victories having been claimed by five-time Supersport champion Jack Kennedy.
The Honda CBR600RR-mounted Irishman is in the thick of a four-way battle at the top of the category’s points standings, arriving at Brands Hatch just 12 points off the championship lead. Having made a clean sweep of Supersport wins at Brands Hatch in 2024 - two in July and two more in October - the defending champion is in justifiably confident form.
Kennedy’s team-mate in the Supersport garage, Dean Harrison, made his own headlines last month by taking two wins for Honda Racing at the 2025 Isle of Man TT. The Yorkshireman now has his sights firmly fixed upon the Supersport podium, holding seventh in the category’s points table.
In Honda’s British Superbike garage, 2023 champion Tommy Bridewell claimed his third podium finish of the year in the previous round at Knockhill, coming off the back of a double podium weekend at Snetterton in Round 3.
These results have maintained the Honda Fireblade rider’s current fifth place in the points table. But after a guest appearance in the World Superbike Championship two weeks ago, the Wiltshire charger is hungry for more in BSB - his most recent race win coming at Brands Hatch in the mesmerizing final round title battle at the end of last season.
Alongside Bridewell, team-mate Andrew Irwin’s season continues to gather momentum. After a crash in qualifying for Round 1, the Northern Irishman fought back to fitness through the next two events before running comfortably in the top 10 in the most recent round at Knockhill.
Irwin’s target is now to join Bridewell on the podium, as the four-time BSB race winner seeks to climb back into the top 10 positions in the championship. A strong weekend at Brands Hatch would go a long way towards achieving that goal and provide a launchpad to the second half of Irwin’s season.
Tommy Bridewell
“Rather than sitting at home for the last couple of weekends, I had the opportunity to ride in the World Superbike Championship round at Donington Park and was pleased to be right on the pace of my team-mates all weekend. Now we’re back to BSB and I have such amazing memories from Brands Hatch - from lifting the championship title in 2023, and most recently, being part of probably one of the best races, arguably, of British Superbike history last year for the championship. It is a circuit of two halves for me. The Honda worked really strong in certain areas of the circuit and then in others we suffered a little bit, so I think this year for me has been very hard to predict our performance beforehand if I am honest. Snetterton was obviously a really strong round and then into Knockhill, it was ok, but the weather certainly made it a lot more difficult. I think from mine and Honda’s side it is the usual; we are leaving no stone unturned, we are working hard and we are trying to find solutions to make the bike better so that we can be where we need and want to be.”
Andrew Irwin
“We can be positive about the last round at Knockhill: three solid finishes were what I needed to get back under my belt and they also gave the team something to work with, so that when we get to Brands Hatch we can be more confident. We have a few changes, maybe some new parts, and I’m looking forward to that. I’ve had quite a few podiums at Brands over the years in Superbikes and in Supersport as well. It’s a track that you always enjoy; it’s somewhere that Honda is always competitive, and Tommy and I stood on the podium together last year. We have to stay realistic and not expect to move from eighth or tenth to winning races. I feel really good, I think we will take a good step, and just keep reeling in the guys at the front. I think it’s better to have your bad luck at the start of the year rather than later in the season, and we can still achieve a lot in the races ahead, starting this weekend.”
Jack Kennedy
“I can’t wait to get there. The weather forecast looks good, good temperatures, and Brands Hatch in the middle of the season with the big crowds means there’s not much more that you could really want. There’s nothing really better than going there riding for the factory team. I’m excited, it’s a track I really, really like, and to do the double there twice and win all four races we had there last season was a bit crazy. It’s not to say that I’m thinking to do the same at our two race weekends at Brands in 2025, but that’s the goal we set ourselves. We can be confident in our performance after the last two rounds, the team’s ready and I’m ready and I think the Honda CBR600RR is well suited to the flowing nature of Brands GP circuit. I can race my own lines and be consistent and have confidence in where we are.”
Dean Harrison
“It’s been a long time between BSB events, but I went and had a good run at the Southern 100 road race on the Isle of Man, got on the podium, and it was a good one to do. Now it’s back to BSB, and last time out on the Honda CBR600RR at Knockhill was just a chain reaction where things that could go wrong did go wrong. In terms of lap times we actually had good pace, we weren’t slow at all, but after some frustrations in qualifying and the first race and then a crash in the second, the whole weekend was just one to put down to experience. All you can do is move on, and I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch. It’s our first time there this year, and if it’s 24 degrees and sunny, as the forecast shows, I will love that. I feel good, we’ll learn from our mistakes last time and we’ll just get our heads down.”