Honda Racing takes strong points from Thruxton

Race Report Monday 11th August 2025

Honda Racing departs the sixth round of this year’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) and Quattro British Supersport Championship having collected valuable points in both categories.

In Saturday’s opening BSB race, the two factory Honda Fireblades finished line astern in fourth and fifth place, with Tommy Bridewell narrowly ahead of team-mate Andrew Irwin.

For Race 2 the pair lined up in 10th and 11th on the grid, and both riders were cleanly away. Unfortunately, an incident early in the race delayed Bridewell and he was eventually classified 11th. Irwin meanwhile ran an equally hard race in a hard-fought pack and crossed the finish line in sixth place.

The third and final BSB race of the weekend in Hampshire saw Irwin start from eighth place and Bridewell 11th. A smart getaway for Irwin was hindered by a racing incident that dropped him back to 14th, but he charged back up to seventh at the finish, with Bridewell tenth.

In Supersport, defending champion Jack Kennedy had battled to fourth place in Saturday’s Sprint race on his Honda CBR600RR, with his five-time Isle of Man TT-winning team-mate Dean Harrison eighth.

Sunday’s feature race was subject to three red flags and a safety car period, which created a uniquely fractured race format. When the result was declared, Kennedy was classified in fifth place with Harrison once again eighth.

Tommy Bridewell

“Coming into this weekend having put the bike back to my 2024 settings felt like a big step forward. What that meant was, after leading the first race yesterday, I felt like we had a podium in us today. In the end, I was at the limit and over it on every lap, and no matter what I tried, it was just impossible to go any faster. So we’ll have to rethink it and aim to improve at Cadwell Park.”

Andrew Irwin

“It feels strange to say that, after the best points-scoring round of my season so far, I’m honestly a little frustrated. In the last race, if I hadn’t got pushed back to 14th and then used the tyre up getting back up through the field, I honestly think we had a podium in us. The bike was really, really good, which makes not getting that podium hurt a bit. But my guys did a fantastic job, they built a bike that really worked for us today. I’m really grateful to them and I hope we can continue to carry the momentum that we’ve been building since Knockhill.”

Jack Kennedy

“I obviously hope that everybody involved in the red flag incidents is okay. That was a crazy race, with three stoppages and a Safety Car period, which got cut short at the end when I was trying to line myself up to put it on the box. Thanks to my team, the feeling was a lot better on the bike today after some changes that we made after the warm-up. Then we had a brake problem on the grid and the lads were able to fix that, they changed the master cylinder right there, so credit to them. There are positives to take from the day in terms of setup, and a fourth and a fifth is good for points, even if it’s not what we came here to achieve. But overall, I think it’s put us in a good place to approach Honda’s home race at Cadwell Park and a circuit where I run well.”

Dean Harrison

“I don’t think that was a true race, really, to be fair. A two-lap/three-lap dash isn’t what we’re all about, is it? Obviously, you feel for the guys who came off, but I’ve never done a race like that before! But our pace was good all weekend: the fastest laps were good, I was close to Jack’s times and we were able to carry that speed through in every session. So we’ll just take that and do it again at Cadwell; a circuit that I like and that I’m looking forward to.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran

“Thruxton is a notoriously difficult circuit on which tyre management is paramount. It’s hugely fast, which creates unique challenges for the team, who delivered a lot of hard work, and to come away with all four riders having scored some good points is positive. Now we look ahead to a very different challenge at Cadwell Park, the home circuit for Honda Racing UK.”