Honda Racing takes victory amid Cadwell Park podium bonanza

Race Report Monday 25th August 2025

The seventh round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship and Quattro British Supersport Championship at Cadwell Park delivered the first BSB victory of 2025 for Honda Racing amid a deluge of trophies at the team’s home track.

Despite falling in Sunday’s opening BSB race, Tommy Bridewell earned a second place starting position for Race 2 with team-mate Andrew Irwin lining up in fourth position.

A clean getaway saw the two Honda Fireblades riding in line astern in second and third places, with Irwin holding the early advantage, before Bridewell made his way past. Soon afterwards, the championship leader, Bradley Ray, crashed out of the race lead, promoting the Hondas to first and second.

The two Fireblades ran nose-to-tail throughout the race until the final corner, when Irwin was passed by defending BSB champion Kyle Ryde. Out in front, Bridewell deservedly scored his first win of the season after months of hard work for himself and the team, while Irwin’s third place completed the team’s first double podium finish since Brands Hatch in July 2024.

The final BSB encounter of the weekend began with Irwin, holder of the fastest lap in Race 2, starting from pole position, with Bridewell also on the front row in third place. A lightning start carried Irwin to the early lead, but by the end of the lap the two Hondas were running second and third, with Irwin to the fore.

As the race progressed, Irwin and race leader, defending BSB champion Kyle Ryde, pulled away in a private battle while Bridewell circulated in a lonely third place, well clear of the rest of the field. Irwin dodged and feinted but could not find a way past, settling instead for second place, with Bridewell finishing third.

In the Supersport class, defending champion Jack Kennedy claimed pole position, having shattered the lap record for the category in the opening Sprint race. Gear selection issues had pegged him back to eighth at the finish on Sunday, but no such issues afflicted his Honda CBR600RR on Monday.

From the outset, a fast and furious battle between the top five riders saw the order changing on every lap, but in the closing stages Kennedy worked his way through and he finished on the podium in second place. More importantly, the five-time Supersport champion strengthened his position in the title race after leading his nearest rivals home.

It was an equally impressive performance from five-time Isle of Man TT winner Dean Harrison, who started in 11th place. Despite dropping back to 13th in the opening laps, the Yorkshireman dug deep and passed rider after rider to finish in seventh place in a hugely impressive ride. Both championships will return to action at Donington Park on September 5-7.

Tommy Bridewell

“A good weekend, I guess. A tough weekend, but it seems like the bike’s made a step. Andy (Irwin) had a great weekend, so that’s good to see - he’s brimming with confidence so it helps push me. Neither of us wants to get beaten by our team-mate, so it pushes me hard. It’s tough around here at Cadwell but no excuses. My emotions are odd, really. We won today, but I expect to be winning more regularly and I expect it to be more consistent. It’s tough because at the minute I’m happy - I’m super happy! We’ve won a BSB race today, and that’s hard to do at the best of times. I’m happy for Honda, but I’m not sure if we’ve turned the corner yet. Let’s see what else we can do for the rest of the year. We need to keep working, that’s for sure.”

Andrew Irwin

“Some races you’re disappointed not to win but today I’m not. I put 100% in until the end of the weekend, and we’ve got three podium finishes to show for it. It’s been a solid weekend. Honda has done a mega job, I keep ranting and raving about it, and congratulations to Tommy for the win. Five podiums for the team is pretty special. I feel great when I’m riding, I feel like I’m getting back to where I was four or five years ago, and I feel like I could be doing this every weekend. It’s nice to have that feeling again: it’s nice to have that belief.”

Jack Kennedy

“We finally got the job done: back on the podium, back in with the front group. It was a dogfight out there, really! I tried my best to try and make some passes but everyone knows it’s really difficult to pass around here. I really had to ride the wheels off the CBR600RR, think outside the box and just try and get one over the bigger bikes. Second place on the Honda around here feels like a win at this track, I’m absolutely delighted. We got some good points over my championship rivals as well. So, massive credit to my team and big thanks to Honda UK. I’m absolutely delighted with that one.”

Dean Harrison

“All in all, I think it’s been a positive weekend. We’ve had good pace all weekend and it’s not quite the result that we wanted, we really want to be a little bit further forward, but we’re battling in that lead group. We pulled them back in today. It was a shame in the first race that the lap times are so tight for grid position because a tenth of a second covers about six grid positions. I was a little bit disappointed to have started where I did, but the team at Honda has been unreal as usual, and we’ll roll on to Donington. I think that we should come to Cadwell twice a year; it’s an amazing track and I’ve never seen so many people here. It’s a special place and one of the circuits that I really like coming back to.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran

“I am incredibly pleased with the successes that Honda Racing has achieved at Cadwell Park, and proud of the way in which we have all dug in when we needed to. We had good speed and the team moved heaven and earth to repair the bikes at times, while our riders delivered strong results under pressure in both classes. I think that this weekend really moves the bar for our BSB programme and our expectations for the rest of the season. We know what we can achieve now, and how to get there. In Supersport, Jack strengthened his title hopes, while Dean’s ever-improving short track racecraft was very apparent. We can feel very positive as we look ahead from here.”