Glenn Irwin still in championship contention following a thrilling opening race at Brands Hatch

Race Report
This afternoon the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race took place as the season finale heated up following a thrilling 16-laps at Brands Hatch. Honda Racing's title chaser Glenn Irwin finished sixth and Andrew Irwin seventh after an intense battle on track where the top-five championship contenders all swapped places chasing the all-important race win. 

With mixed weather conditions throughout free practice and qualifying, the opening race was dry and after qualifying earlier in the day Glenn started seventh and Andrew eighth on the grid. Getting a fantastic start off the line aboard the all-new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP Glenn was sitting second at the end of the first lap.

Making the most of the Fireblade's power across the start/finish line, Glenn passed Josh Brookes and took the lead early into the fifth lap, where behind the intensity was increasing as Jason O'Halloran, Christian Iddon and Tarran Mackenzie were also hungry for the win. 

Holding the lead for the majority of the race, on the 11th lap Glenn started to drop back due to a lack of grip and eventually finished sixth, with brother Andrew behind in seventh after another solid race. The result from today still leaves the championship all to play for, with Glenn now sitting fourth, 21 points behind. 

Meanwhile it's been a tough day for the team's Superstock 1000 riders Tom Neave and Davey Todd. Today's qualifying saw mixed conditions and with the track drying throughout the session, tyre choice proved vital with the times. Some riders opted to take a gamble with a dry front tyre which paid off, but the Honda duo opted for a wet front and dry rear which hampered progress. Tomorrow's final race see's Tom 13th on the grid with Davey 22nd. 

Tomorrow both the 2020 Bennett British Superbike and Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championships will be decided with one Superstock 1000 race at 14.20 and BSB Rounds 17 at 12.45 and the title decider, Round 18 at 16.00. 

Andrew Irwin

Today's race was quite a fun race to be honest, the first ten laps were fast-going and I didn't really look at the pit board until about three laps from the end. It was nice to be close to the front for a while, but we have just one area we need to improve on and I think if we manage that, then we will hopefully be a bit closer to the front tomorrow. But it was a good race, we're not too far away and we'll try and improve for tomorrow's final two races. 

Glenn Irwin

On the grid we talked about getting a good start, and I knew I needed one starting from seventh and it was perfect! We got really stuck in and I was comfortable with the pace I was leading at, but I knew others had perhaps more pace in that race. I was trying to defend and be smart, Jason pulled a move and as I was drafting back I had some big turbulence I suppose, with a big moment and dropped back to third. That was the race from there and unfortunately we dropped further. But it's been a positive, there are areas we know we can work on, and I think if we work on those we can continue to make inroads. Championship wise, for sure we lost points and that's frustrating, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable race and it was nice to make moves on some people. 

The 2020 Honda Racing team merchandise is now available to purchase online, click here to check out the range. 


British Superbike 2020

Brands Hatch GP, Round 16

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha 23:08.127 25
2 Christian Iddon 21 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +1.877 20
3 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +2.075 16
4 Josh Brookes 25 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +3.055 13
5 Danny Buchan 83 Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +3.667 11
6 Glenn Irwin Honda Racing UK Honda +4.479 10
7 Andrew Irwin 18 Honda Racing UK Honda +4.787 9
8 Lee Jackson 14 Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +4.845 8
9 Tommy Bridewell Oxford Products Racing Ducati Ducati +5.899 7
10 Gino Rea 44 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +6.134 6
11 Luke Mossey 12 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +6.742 5
12 Jack Kennedy 41 RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki +11.127 4
13 Peter Hickman 60 Global Robots BMW BMW +11.303 3
14 Kyle Ryde 77 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +11.460 2
15 Joe Francis 40 Lloyd and Jones Bowker Motorrad BMW +11.770 1

British Superbike 2020

Brands Hatch GP, Qualifying

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Josh Brookes 25 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati 1:24.983
2 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +0.385
3 Christian Iddon 21 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +0.787
4 Bradley Ray 28 SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW +0.805
5 Luke Mossey 12 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +0.837
6 Gino Rea 44 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +0.885
7 Glenn Irwin Honda Racing UK Honda +0.934
8 Andrew Irwin 18 Honda Racing UK Honda +1.005
9 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +1.013
10 Jack Kennedy 41 RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki +1.081

National Superstock 2020

Brands Hatch GP, Qualifying

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Billy McConnell 3 OMG Racing Yamaha 1:30.992
2 Jordan Weaving 34 Jones Dorling Racing Honda +0.162
3 Chrissy Rouse 69 Crowe Performance BMW +0.635
4 Dan Linfoot 4 Bathams BMW Motorrad BMW +0.721
5 Keith Farmer 33 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +1.041
6 Danny Kent 52 Morello IMR by CPD Kawasaki +1.258
7 Fraser Rogers 89 Morello IMR by CPD Kawasaki +1.503
8 Luke Hedger 12 CPD Kawasaki Kawasaki +2.095
9 Tim Neave 14 Hawk Racing Suzuki +2.220
10 Ashley Beech 55 Jones Dorling Racing Honda +2.271
11 Lewis Rollo 6 IN Competition/Aprilia Aprilia +2.476
12 Michael Rutter 4 Bathams BMW Motorrad BMW +2.831
13 Tom Neave 68 Honda Racing UK Honda +2.847
22 Davey Todd 74 Honda Racing UK Honda +5.659