Knockhill Sunday Report - Supersport and Superbike
The weekend’s Supersport action saw Kennedy and Harrison once again fighting at the sharp end of the field around the 1.27-mile Knockhill circuit, a crash for Kennedy and a testing brake situation for Dean Harrison in the Saturday sprint race meant both riders were keen to put on a show in the main feature race.
Under what can only be described as freakishly perfect racing conditions, both Honda CBR600RR riders made a strong start and settled into a rhythm. Jack Kennedy found second position and Dean slipped back a couple of places, but both showed the pace required to maintain position until the moment to attack presented itself.
By lap nine, Jack had slipped back a place to third and Dean looked to move up a position. With the move made by lap 17, both riders found themselves riding a relatively lonely race, not having to defend but unable to progress, the feature supersport race finished with Jack Kennedy in third and Dean Harrison in sixth.
Dean Harrison
I wanted more from that race. I felt like my start was a bit lazy, I worked hard to get by a few riders in front and then pretty much sat at the maximum pace the bike was capable of for the remainder of the race. It’s not doom and gloom though, I like the fact that I’m not happy unless I’m on the podium and I'm happy that we experimented with a setting in the back of the bike that had a positive impact. We'll look forward now to the next round.
Jack Kennedy
I think we salvaged a reasonable result from a fairly tough weekend’s racing. If I’m being overly critical, I’d point to our lack of dry track time this weekend hampering us. To be fair, this would have also hampered the rest of the grid and I’m not looking for any excuses. After a fairly lengthy layoff between this round and the one before it, I’ll accept the result as it’s points towards the championship.
British Superbike Championship – day two
Following a positive race one on Saturday, Ryan Vickers looked to maintain momentum towards the front of the pack. With the technical challenge from the previous day overcome, Jason O’Halloran lined up for the first of two races expecting more.
Conditions remained excellent and the race got underway cleanly. On lap six the safety car was deployed following a crash. With the track declared fit to race the car came in and the race continued, two laps later a front end crash left Ryan frustrated in the gravel and the bike requiring a full rebuild. Jason O’Halloran crossed the line in 12th position.
A complete rebuild of Ryan’s bike was called for. Following an excellent performance by Ryan’s team, supported by extra hands from the wider Honda Racing UK team, a completely new but identical CBR1000RR-R SP Fireblade was ready for Ryan and the final 30 lap race of the day.
Vicker’s scorched a solid start and at the end of a frenzied lap one, settled into fourth place on track. A red flag incident on lap three called for a restarted 25 lap race. The restarted race picked up exactly where it left off and the pace at the front was strong. Ryan went with the leading trio and by lap ten, a Tartan blanket would have covered the first four bikes on track, gapping the rest of the field they looked set for a battle all the way to the line. With nine laps to go, Ryan moved forwards into an attacking position on Kyle Ryde, passing him into the final hairpin to take third place.
Ryan Vickers rode excellently, defending track position and gapping when possible, it looked like Ryan and the team might be rewarded for their efforts. With four laps to go, Ryde slipped inside Vickers to take third place back. Across the line, Ryan finished in fourth and Jason in 12th.
Ryan Vickers
That result in the last race proved that we can run with the front riders in this championship. When we get things right, we can battle for podiums but clearly small changes equal progress and we made some this weekend. Knockhill is such a demanding circuit to race but I kept digging away and we not only maintained our position but ran in a podium position for a few laps as well. That felt great. I wouldn’t have been able to push like I did had the team not managed a rebuild so well. The bike felt identical to the bike that I crashed, this is a great measure of the quality and dedication from my team and from Honda. Yes, there’s still improvements to make and we’ll keep working on making them, but I’m pleased for me and the team that we can see some progress.
#22 Jason O'Halloran
I raced up to the limit of what we were capable of today. In some areas I was able to carry a little more corner speed than the day before. This meant I was also able to relax my body position which kept fatigue away. That allowed me to push hard all the way to the flag, including making a move on the rider in front late in the race to give me twelfth place. Our position could have been better obviously, but I’m happy with our performance.
Team Manager Scot Hargreaves
It’s positive to see some progress for Ryan but there’s still a lot to do and we’ll continue to seek the optimum setting for the bike and both riders. The way the team came together to rebuild Ryan’s bike gives a real insight into the progress the team is making. Rebuilding a Superbike in such a small place in an hour was as impressive as the on track performance that Ryan delivered in that final race. We’ll regroup at Honda Racing HQ and prepare for the next round.
Honda Racing UK now turns its attention to Round Four of the 2026 ZYN British Superbike Championship at Snetterton, on July 3-5. Look for Honda Racing UK on social media.
