Honda Racing starts strongly at Assen

Race Report Saturday 20th September 2025

Six years after the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) and Quattro British Supersport Championship classes last ventured to the Netherlands, Honda Racing has been in the thick of the action at TT Circuit Assen.

Tommy Bridewell opened his account by maintaining a presence among the top five BSB runners throughout Friday’s two Free Practice sessions. The former BSB champion represents Honda Racing on a single Fireblade at Assen, while team-mate Andrew Irwin recovers from surgery after crashing out of the previous round.

After ending Saturday morning’s FP3 in fifth, and comfortably making it through to the pole position shootout, Bridewell eventually claimed ninth position on the grid for Race 1.

Torrential rain then began to fall as the contenders were lining up on the grid. Honda Racing had pre-empted that decision and sent Bridewell out on wet settings, allowing him to ride comfortably in the lead pack until visibility issues forced him into the pits.

Soon afterwards the race was red-flagged due to the weather conditions. The grid reformed for a six-lap sprint to the finish with Bridewell rejoining on the back row, but the conditions worsened during the warm-up lap and the result was declared.

In Supersport, Jack Kennedy ended Friday’s Free Practice sessions in an encouraging second place on the timesheets, with team-mate Dean Harrison setting the sixth fastest time.

Going straight into Qualifying on Saturday morning, the two riders ended a busy session with Kennedy sixth and Harrison eighth. Their first race of the weekend was then delayed by the adverse weather that fell upon Assen, with the race directors taking the decision to reschedule their race, which will now be held on Sunday morning.

Tommy Bridewell

“It’s been a really refreshing start to the weekend. For me, it’s just been working through the process of a normal weekend in a nice manner. We’ve kept calm and we’ve had good race pace. We weren’t able to get enough out of the rear tyre over a single lap in qualifying compared to our competitors, but we can improve on that. Our race pace is brilliant in the dry and I think we’ve got some ideas for tomorrow, when the first five laps of the race need a big push, and that’s really our problem area. In the wet we were on the grid with full wets and ready to go, the bike felt great at the start, I was really happy with everything, but within two laps my visor started letting in water. I just couldn’t see anything at 140 mph at the back of the circuit; couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me. Never in my life did I ever feel that I’d get to that point, but just down to safety I felt like I had to pit. It breaks me to say it because I just can’t believe I’d ever be in that position. It’s extremely frustrating when the team gave me a bike that’s perfectly capable of fighting for the podium, and I felt really good on it, but it was like trying to ride with one eye closed. We thought that we might get another stab at it, so I duct-taped the whole helmet up, and I was confident of being able to get back through the field, but the red flag was the correct decision on safety grounds.”

Jack Kennedy

“Qualifying didn’t go entirely to plan. We really wanted to be on the front row to make life a bit easier in the race, but it didn’t come together with us. I never really got a tow, basically, I had to work on my own, and I think we might have needed a bit of slipstream to make it happen. We didn’t get that, but I’m quite confident we can do a good pace in the race. So, I know I’ve got a lap or two of hard graft that I have to do at the start of the race to get us into the position that I want to be in. I think we’ll be okay from there on in. We can be confident in the race that we can do a good job.”

Dean Harrison

“I do think that postponing the race was the right decision, especially when you’ve got 35-40 bikes on the track in Supersport. For safety reasons I feel like it was the right decision. In practice, we had a bit of an issue in FP1 that put us back a bit, but we learnt quite a lot and ended up right back at the same pace as Jack again, which seems to be a pattern. I’m looking forward to the race and hopefully it will be dry tomorrow. We’re learning so much with the bike, and the track’s so different from when we were last here six years ago that I feel like a newcomer again, but I’m enjoying it.”

Team Principal Neil Fletcher

“In the Superbike garage, I think it’s testament to the team that members of both Andrew’s crew and Tommy’s crew have integrated so well with a very short lead time for Tommy to feel extremely confident in his Fireblade this weekend. I’m frustrated on behalf of our Supersport team, but I have to commend the race directors in making the right calls at the right time today. It’s been a unique experience to have arrived at Assen in blazing sunshine this morning and then to end up with the day cut short by heavy rain. But we can look forward to tomorrow with optimism.”