Honda Racing returns to British Superbike Championship action with Round 3 at Snetterton

Tommy Bridewell

“It’s been a busy few weeks, I’ve done testing for the World Superbike development programme at Misano and Barcelona as well as being able to attend the TT with my dad for the first time in many years. The team obviously did a great job there, I was really chuffed for Dean with the successes he had, but I’m looking forward to getting back on with the BSB season now for sure. I think Snett, if I’m honest, should be better for us. At the minute we’re struggling with any sort of undulation where Snetterton, being flat, allows us to run the bike in a very different area that should allow us to use the new 2025 tyre better than we have. Snetterton’s certainly a different proposition to Misano or Barcelona but I’ve been doing this long enough that I can adjust fairly quickly. I’m looking forward to the busy schedule that we’ve got now for the summer. We’ll take Snett in our stride and hope to be stronger than we have been so far, and it’s crucial to keep working hard to find what we need in the bike.”

Andrew Irwin

“I think for sure for me the first round was difficult after crashing out in qualifying, everybody knows that, but Donington was good despite carrying some effects of that injury. We want to continue where we left off at Donington and build through Snetterton and the next run of races. I feel that I’m riding as good as I ever have, and we just have to be able to maintain that pace for a full race. We have a test after this weekend at Snetterton which I think will be important. Coming into this season, every other bike around us on the grid has got something new on it where we haven’t had any big development steps yet from the end of 2024, so we need to be trying some new things ourselves to be able to go forwards. Honestly, I think I’ve got the best group of people in the team around me. My recovery from the Oulton Park injury is still a work-in-progress but I can put it to the back of my mind, and Snetterton is one of the less physical tracks, so my aim is to pick up from the sort of pace that we had fighting for podium places at Donington and to carry it on from there.”

Jack Kennedy

“I’m really excited to get back on the bike after the long break in the schedule. The team’s obviously performed really well on the TT, which was fantastic, but for sure this break has been way too long for me and I’m keen to get back on the bike. I’m really excited to see my team, see the lads and get back to it. We’ve got a new exhaust that was run for the first time at the TT and I think that will help give us a little bit more performance and make our lives a little bit easier. I’ve got a good history at Snetterton. It’s got two of probably the longest straights on the calendar which maybe on paper will go against the bike a little, but I think me and the team do such a good job around Snetterton that we seem to get away with it! Supersport is really competitive now and there’s more riders than ever who can fight for the win but it’s nice to be in a battle and put on a show with a good level of respect between us all. It’s good, close racing; hard, fair, clean racing - which is what riders and fans all want to see.” 

Dean Harrison

“I need to get my head back into British Supersports after finishing the road campaign. I’m looking forward to this weekend, actually, because it’s the first time I’ve been there on the Honda CBR600RR so I’m quite excited. I don’t know what to expect, really. I know the bike’s going to be good in the infield and as long as I’m in the fight at the front we’ll just see what we can do. In myself I feel good, I feel confident and fit. I’m just keen to get stuck in a bit more each time out. Last year, Snetterton was wet and I crashed so it can’t be any worse than that! But we’re promised some amazing weather and coming to it after a fantastic road campaign is a really good feeling. We’ve been strong in every class on the roads, we’ve got a podium in every road race we’ve run, so now it’s time to carry that over to reaching the podium on the short circuits now as well. I think that the changes we’ve made to the bike are going to help, but we won’t know until we’re out and riding so I’m looking forward to it, really.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran

“The past few weeks have delivered a lot in terms of the road racing programme, but it has also been a long break from the BSB and I believe that the whole team will be fired-up from the start at Snetterton, a circuit where we have had strong results over many years. A lot of the progress that we made at the TT was based upon what we learned from the first two events of the BSB season, and I think that the same will apply in the opposite way, with the confidence within the team and the steps we are taking with the development of the bikes now being harnessed towards the remaining nine rounds of the season.”