Victory and second for Honda Racing UK at Donington Park

Race Report
Tom Neave stormed to victory in this afternoon's second Pirelli National Superstock Championship race aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, making amends for yesterday's penalty hit result, and scoring his first win of the 2021 season for the Honda Racing UK team. 

Starting the 20-lap race from pole position, Tom got the holeshot and dominated the race from start to finish. Unchallenged throughout and with a flawless ride, Tom crossed the line 2.678 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Luke Mossey. The result from today see's the Honda-man jump into second place in the overall standings, with 113 points, joint with current series leader Alex Olsen. 

The celebrations continued for the Honda squad when Glenn Irwin placed his Fireblade on the podium in the final Superbike race of the weekend in second place. Crashing out of Race 2 earlier in the day, Glenn had dislocated his left shoulder in the crash, but having been passed fit by the BSB medical team, Glenn lined up ready to fight in Race 3. 
 
The race was restarted after rain started to fall at the circuit, and with a shorted distance of 20 laps ahead of him and intermediate tyres, he knew what he had to do when the lights went out. Breaking away early from the pack, Glenn took the lead in the early stages, but was eventually passed by Tommy Bridewell, where Glenn then settled into a good rhythm in second position. Crossing the line as runner-up, Glenn has racked up 40 points this weekend, after his second place in yesterday’s opening race and now sits seventh in the championship standings. 
 
Ryo Mizuno enjoyed a good day at Donington scoring his first-ever BSB points in both of today’s races, finishing 15th and his highest placed finish to date in 13th in the final race. Teammate Takumi Takahashi had a challenging Sunday after suffering two DNF’s in today’s races. Making good progress throughout the weekend in terms of lap times, today he crashed out unhurt in Race 2, and retired in the final race after stalling on the grid and being caught by the leading race group. 

In a summer of back to back races, the Honda Racing UK team will now look forward to heading to their home race Cadwell Park next weekend (20-22 August). 


Glenn Irwin

40 points, that’s what we look at this weekend and take away with us. Race 2 we had the crash, and I dislocated my shoulder, but you know we're not superhuman and this happens. I’m overwhelmed with everyone, like ‘you’re a hero’ but honestly on the bike I was fine, a little sore changing direction. I wouldn’t change that result in Race 3, my boys did a great job, the front tyre was a last-minute call, I don’t know if someone was looking over us but something made me want to change. I don’t normally feel comfortable in those conditions, but we done it and it’s been a great weekend. Eurosport did a fantastic feature on myself this weekend, I’m grateful for being able to talk about mental health and show that the official BSB team riders are all in this together, and to anyone who is struggling, if I bounce back today, you guys can overcome a lot more.   

Ryo Mizuno

I was able to score my first BSB points, two races in a row. In Race 3, I had to use intermediate tyres for the first time in my racing career and it took me a while to understand them, so I was not able to improve my pace in the beginning. But this weekend I was able to meet my goal of improving my time in each session, and I'm making steady progress, so I'll continue to do my best with a smile on my face!

Takumi Takahashi

In Race2 I was riding a bit faster than my personal best time but halfway through I started to suffer arm pump and I couldn't keep my lap time. In the end I couldn't control the bike properly and crashed in the last corner, so I am sorry to the team. In Race 3, when I went to the grid, my engine stalled and I went to the escape zone because I didn't understand what happened. Then the engine started, and I managed to start the race from the pits. However, I retired from the race because of my delay to start, the lead group had caught me and was behind. Now I understand what happened at the start and I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again. 

Tom Neave

After what happened yesterday it made me more determined for the win, on paper I won the race, I rode my heart out and I was gutted to have it taken away from me. To lead today’s race from the first corner to the chequered flag was the perfect way to end the weekend and prove that I deserved to win. We’re joint first in the championship now with points, which I never expected coming into the weekend 37 points down. We head to Cadwell Park now, which is my home round and I know we can have a really strong weekend. This is a turning point for my championship hopes and I hope we can keep this good momentum going. 

British Superbike 2021

R5 Donington Park National, Race 3

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Tommy Bridewell Oxford Products Racing Ducati Ducati 23:05.903 25
2 Glenn Irwin Honda Racing UK Honda +3.404 20
3 Andrew Irwin SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW +7.211 16
4 Josh Brookes 25 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +25.804 13
5 Joe Francis 40 Tactix by Lloyd & Jones BMW BMW +31.142 11
6 Storm Stacey 79 Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki Kawasaki +37.640 10
7 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +42.603 9
8 Dean Harrison 5 Silicone Engineering Racing Kawasaki +44.391 8
9 Dan Linfoot 4 TAG Racing Honda Honda +45.782 7
10 Gino Rea 44 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +45.914 6
11 Rory Skinner Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +50.218 5
12 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +50.874 4
13 Ryo Mizuno Honda Racing UK Honda +53.719 3
14 Peter Hickman 60 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW +1 lap 2
15 Lee Jackson 14 Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +1 lap 1

National Superstock 2021

Donington Park National, Race 2

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Tom Neave 68 Honda Racing UK Honda 22:40.438 25
2 Luke Mossey 32 Bournemouth Kawasaki/HEL Performance Kawasaki +2.678 20
3 Fraser Rogers 89 Morello IMR by CPD Kawasaki +4.428 16
4 Taylor Mackenzie 77 Bathams BMW Motorrad BMW +4.608 13
5 Ian Hutchinson 44 Edwards Yamaha Yamaha +9.306 11
6 Tim Neave 14 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +9.805 10
7 Chrissy Rouse 1 GR Motorsport Kawasaki +10.254 9
8 Alex Olsen 75 FHO Racing BMW BMW +10.975 8
9 Lewis Rollo 8 RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki +12.816 7
10 Luke Stapleford 81 Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +15.756 6
11 Damon Rees 92 Astro-JJR BMW BMW +17.946 5
12 Richard Kerr 5 AMD Motorsport Honda +21.440 4
13 Shane Richardson 28 Astro-JJR BMW BMW +21.589 3
14 Tom Oliver 50 Hawk Racing Suzuki +21.776 2
15 James East 36 APTO Aprilia Aprilia +24.874 1

British Superbike 2021

R5 Donington Park National, Race 2

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha 31:46.011 25
2 Bradley Ray 28 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +0.066 20
3 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +0.173 16
4 Peter Hickman 60 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW +0.636 13
5 Tommy Bridewell Oxford Products Racing Ducati Ducati +1.221 11
6 Kyle Ryde 77 Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW +1.457 10
7 Ryan Vickers 7 RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki +2.288 9
8 Xavi Forés 12 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW +3.220 8
9 Andrew Irwin SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW +3.253 7
10 Josh Brookes 25 Visiontrack Ducati Ducati +3.905 6
11 Dan Linfoot 4 TAG Racing Honda Honda +4.987 5
12 Storm Stacey 79 Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki Kawasaki +5.052 4
13 Dean Harrison 5 Silicone Engineering Racing Kawasaki +5.317 3
14 Rory Skinner Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +5.754 2
15 Ryo Mizuno Honda Racing UK Honda +21.369 1