Honda Racing delivers progress in all-action BSB Round 2 at Donington Park

Tommy Bridewell

“It was effectively a new bike today after my crash yesterday, which didn’t miss a beat - so thank you to Ryan and Tom and the whole team for building it. We even had people from the Supersport garage as well as our own guys getting the bike built overnight, everyone was chipping in. This morning’s times (20th place in Warm-Up) weren't really representative. We didn’t have a problem, it’s just that the tyre rules we have in BSB at the moment are just madness. Because of that, the morning sessions, FP3 on Saturday and Warm-Up on Sunday are just a waste of time. You make sure that everything’s bolted on and that’s it. The first race today, we went back to my 2024 setup to get a bit of an understanding. I think for me the crux of it is that we’ve got a new tyre, a bit grippier, and it certainly looks like it has benefitted Yamaha and Ducati more than us. My pace is very, very similar to last year, my times are almost identical to last year and I’m riding as hard as I can without crashing - and yesterday I went a bit harder than that and I crashed! Last year, I was riding that hard to fight for podiums. This year, I’m riding that hard for sixth or seventh and the only difference is how our bikes are responding to the new tyre. It’s certainly frustrating so we’ve all got a bit of work to do together to find that next step.”

Andrew Irwin

“Honestly, if you had said before we started this weekend that I would come straight off the back of two weeks carrying an injury to score two top-10 finishes and an 11th I would have been happy. We have to take where I am, and I’m not fit, and take that as a positive because over one lap we’re really close to the pace so now we have a gap and I’ll be working really hard on my fitness to get it back to where it was before the injury. I’ll knuckle down and look forward to Snetterton, which will feel much more like a normal weekend. I really want to say thank you to my team, to Spider, Johnny, Dan, Simon and Cammy because it’s a busy period for them, the hospitality crew and everyone at Honda Racing when they’re competing with the road races at the North West 200 and of course the TT and still working hard on the British Superbike Championship all weekend from start to finish. Good luck to Dean and John (McGuinness) at the TT.”

Jack Kennedy

“We wanted more today, we wanted to stick it on the podium if we could and we made some changes to see if that would allow me to ride the bike even harder. I think we did a good job of that and we were in the fight for the win for two-thirds of the race but then the rear tyre just seemed to drop off a cliff edge so it turned into a bit of a salvage job at that point. Unfortunately I was a bit of a sitting duck, which is a shame because I was really comfortable in that lead fight and we had to settle for fifth place. It’s not really in my DNA to do that, but looking at the bigger picture and fighting for a sixth championship then a fourth and a fifth place will be helpful for the points. It was a strong points scoring weekend and massive thanks to my crew and Honda Racing UK because I felt that we were definitely where we needed to be for pace. We have a bit of time now and hopefully we will get on top of this tyre issue. I was riding it really hard down through the Craner Curves and Old Hairpin in particular, which is where we were making the most time on the leaders, just making up time on the brakes, which is risky. It’s no secret that I’ve had a few crashes in testing and at the first race weekend of the season, which was because the way we went on setup allowed me to ride hard but with no real indication of where the limit was. So we’ve found a setup now where I can still push but the bike will give me a little more warning on what the limit is. Meanwhile, I shall be watching how the team gets on at the TT and wish the boys well, and then we’ll maybe try a few things to put us in an even better position in Supersport when we get back at it at Snetterton next month.”

Dean Harrison

“As a whole, this weekend, I think the pace across the entire field in Supersport has been insanely fast. We’re getting a lot out of the bike now, I think we’re really almost at the maximum in terms of what both Jack and I are able to get out of it. We’re evenly matched for time now, which is good, because he’s the five-time champion in this class and the benchmark for me. We’re working really well together, it’s a great atmosphere in the garage and I’m really happy to now be taking this bike, as it is, to the TT for the next two weeks. When you’re riding well you feel better in yourself. This season has seen us go better and better from Oulton Park to the North West 200 and now to here so, really, I just want to take that momentum forward to the TT. Then we’ll come back fresh to carry on chipping away at the Supersport championship.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran

“I think it’s fair to say that a lot of things went better than they might - in particular Andrew being passed fit to compete on a Superbike and then the way that the entire team dug in to effectively build a new machine from the ground up for Tommy to compete with on Sunday. Our riders didn’t reach the podium either in Superbike or Supersport, but across the board it was not for the want of trying. Andrew had the speed in him that saw him starting in an appropriate place for where we are currently in our performance. Tommy raced in the way that few other riders can on a Superbike and was rewarded with points that I hope will be valuable indeed at the end of the year. For Jack and Dean to be completely inseparable in their lap time, when they are two very different riders on different setups, tells us another story. All of that has been achieved by hard work from every member of the team, and they have done it at a time when we are really testing ourselves to compete at the top level both here in the British Superbike Championship and in the biggest road races in the world. So from that perspective I think everyone can be proud of what they are achieving as we look ahead to the next phase of our season.”