Celebrations at Brands Hatch for Honda Racing UK

Race Report
Today at Brands Hatch for the final round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Tom Neave and the Honda Racing UK team are celebrating after being crowned the 2021 Pirelli National Superstock Champions with the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. 

Going into the race Tom was 22-points ahead of his championship rival Billy McConnell, meaning that to secure the championship, Tom needed only four points, irrelevant if Billy won the race, but having qualified 19th there was some work to do for the Honda-rider. 

Off the line Tom knew what he had to do and made his way through the pack lap by lap, and by lap seven he was up to 13th. Meanwhile up ahead Billy had taken the lead and the pair were both tied on points, however Tom rode carefully to keep pushing up through the pack where he eventually took the chequered flag in eighth place, and as the 2021 Pirelli National Superstock Champion.

Meanwhile in the British Superbike Championship, Glenn Irwin took a ninth place finish in the day's second race, but retired early from Race 3 following an engine issue. Plagued with a shoulder injury throughout the latter part of the year, Glenn finishes the season eighth overall having scored a win, two-second places and a third throughout the season. 

For Glenn's teammates and BSB rookies Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi, the British championship has been an exciting, but a steep learning curve with new circuits to learn each time out. Finishing today's races in the points Takumi took a brace of 15th places, with Ryo finishing 20th in both.

Honda Racing UK will now look forward to the 2022 season, where the team will be announcing its plans very soon. 

Glenn Irwin

I felt confident in the last race of the day and I felt strong but a technical problem put me out of the race, which wasn't an ideal end to the season. But huge congratulations to Tom and the team, there's a good vibe, he's a rider with a lot of talent and deserved the title. It's been a rollercoaster of a season and huge thanks to my team, we've come a long way this year from where we started and they turned it around. We made the Showdown, four podiums, a race win and a couple of Pole Positions in what I would call a difficult year, it could have been much worse. 

Ryo Mizuno

It was a difficult weekend. We did the best we could but we couldn't get the feeling right. It was a disappointing end to the season but it also showed that we can still improve. I have been racing in BSB this year and it has been a very good experience for me. I will continue to work hard every day to improve. Thank you very much to the team for the whole year.

Takumi Takahashi

In Race 2 I didn't get a good start and lost some places but I started to feel better with the swingarm that we have been using and I was able to push a bit more. In Race three I tried a different set-up to make it even better but I didn't get a good feeling and it was a difficult race. But I think we can see some possibilities to use this swingarm better after the last two races, so that's a good thing.
Thank you to the team for all the hard work all year!

Tom Neave

It's an absolute dream come true, it's not just a championship for me, but it's a championship for the whole team, all my crew, everyone who's supported me and got behind me - it's been a hell of a year and the best season to win the title in, I'm not just saying that as I've won this year, it's been unreal, the riders and the depth of field. I'm so grateful to Honda for giving me this opportunity three years ago when I wasn't too proven, so the championship is for them and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.

British Superbike 2021

R11 Brands Hatch GP, Race 3

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha 28:40.521 25
2 Tommy Bridewell Oxford Products Racing Ducati Ducati +0.126 20
3 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +3.266 16
4 Josh Brookes 25 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +4.917 13
5 Peter Hickman 60 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW +5.099 11
6 Lee Jackson 14 Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +12.055 10
7 Rory Skinner Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +13.304 9
8 Bradley Ray 28 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +14.742 8
9 Andrew Irwin SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW +18.359 7
10 Gino Rea 44 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +18.440 6
11 Kyle Ryde 77 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +30.589 5
12 Ryan Vickers 7 RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki +33.667 4
13 Storm Stacey 79 Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki Kawasaki +33.776 3
14 Dean Harrison 5 Silicone Engineering Racing Kawasaki +43.028 2
15 Bjorn Estment 27 Powerslide Racing Suzuki Suzuki +43.668 1
16 Luke Mossey TAG Racing Honda Honda +45.741 0
17 Takumi Takahashi Honda Racing UK Honda +47.796 0
20 Ryo Mizuno Honda Racing UK Honda +1:08.326 0

British Superbike 2021

R11 Brands Hatch GP, Race 2

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha 28:44.261 25
2 Tommy Bridewell Oxford Products Racing Ducati Ducati +0.087 20
3 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +1.398 16
4 Christian Iddon 21 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +2.370 13
5 Peter Hickman 60 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW +5.874 11
6 Josh Brookes 25 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +8.437 10
7 Danny Buchan 83 SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW +9.430 9
8 Gino Rea 44 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +15.298 8
9 Glenn Irwin Honda Racing UK Honda +18.297 7
10 Kyle Ryde 77 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +19.161 6
11 Joe Francis 40 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW +24.131 5
12 Bradley Ray 28 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +25.943 4
13 Luke Mossey TAG Racing Honda Honda +30.650 3
14 Storm Stacey 79 Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki Kawasaki +33.496 2
15 Takumi Takahashi Honda Racing UK Honda +46.234 1
20 Ryo Mizuno Honda Racing UK Honda +1:15.680 0

National Superstock 2021

11 Brands Hatch GP, Race

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Billy McConnell 3 OMG Racing Yamaha 17:38.787 25
2 Jordan Weaving 34 Platform Hire Racing Kawasaki +0.043 20
3 Fraser Rogers 89 IN Competition/Aprilia Aprilia +0.627 16
4 Lewis Rollo 8 RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki +0.921 13
5 Taylor Mackenzie 77 Bathams BMW Motorrad BMW +1.023 11
6 Alex Olsen 75 FHO Racing BMW BMW +5.932 10
7 Shane Richardson 28 Astro-JJR BMW BMW +6.473 9
8 Tom Neave 68 Honda Racing UK Honda +7.995 8
9 Tim Neave 14 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +8.298 7
10 Brayden Elliott 51 No Bull Racing CFS Filtration Suzuki Suzuki +9.359 6
11 David Allingham 11 Astro-JJR BMW BMW +9.606 5
12 Tom Oliver 50 Hawk Racing Suzuki +9.754 4
13 Luke Mossey 32 Bournemouth Kawasaki/HEL Performance Kawasaki +9.884 3
14 Ian Hutchinson 44 Edwards Yamaha Yamaha +12.546 2
15 Levi Day 17 Powerslide AJN Steelstock Suzuki +13.261 1