Tommy Bridewell leads the BSB championship while Jack Kennedy claims victory number seven

Jack Kennedy claims victory number seven at Oulton Park

After a hard-fought day of racing at Oulton Park for round nine of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Jack Kennedy notches up win number seven of the season and with it regains the supersport series lead.

But it was a tale of two halves for Honda Racing UK though today at Oulton Park as the spoils of supersport contrasted with an unfortunate DNF in the sole superbike race of the day.

Tommy Bridewell, having made a significant setup change overnight after a challenging Friday, made significant positive progress in a tightly contested qualifying session to secure a vital front-row start for the first showdown race of the year. His margin to pole position was just 0.055 seconds, as less than a tenth of a second covered the top four. However, in the afternoon race, Tommy crashed on the opening lap and thus relinquished the championship lead. Undeterred though he aims to bounce back tomorrow.

Andrew Irwin meanwhile delivered a composed ride to twelfth from eighteenth on the grid to score yet more valuable championship points.

It was in supersport though that the celebrations came, as Jack Kennedy delivered on the promise of his second on the grid slot to seize the lead at precisely the right moment in the race. Having stalked championship rival Stapleford for the duration of the race, a decisive move into the lead paid dividends come a late race red flag. Thus, win number seven was chalked onto the board and with it a championship lead of two points.

Dean Harrison struggled to capitalise on the strong pace he had shown yesterday in free practice from sixth on the grid as he lost touch with the leading group when pushed wide early in the race. He is convinced however that there is more potential to be realised tomorrow.

#18 Andrew Irwin

The results today don’t reflect our potential at all, and they are certainly not the results that I go racing to achieve. But, it is important to draw all of the positives from the day. We moved forward in the race and scored points, our pace has improved as the weekend has gone on and I am confident that heading into tomorrow we can make some more progress to be in a more competitive position.

#1 Tommy Bridewell

It goes without saying it’s obviously not the result that we wanted. We were a little lost in setup yesterday in truth so the team made a big change overnight which was the right direction for sure and enabled us to put the bike on the front row. It’s frustrating to crash out and not get any championship points, but look, there is only one time of the year when leading the championship matters and that’s after race three at Brands. There’s work to do tomorrow but we will get our head down and go again.

#4 Jack Kennedy

I knew the pace was going to be crazy in that race and it absolutely was, we were running at lap record pace once more which just shows how competitive it is this year. I was happy to see that we had a gap behind us that was increasing, which meant it was just the two of us that I had to focus on. Luke was stronger in certain parts of the track and I was stronger in others, and I was just trying to size up a move. It was around the time of the race that I wanted to make a move and he made a small mistake, got a bit of wheelie and missed a gear, and I knew that it was my time to pounce. I wasn’t sure we had got it when the red flag came out but I am more than happy to take the win. To take it to Luke on the bigger capacity bike around here at a circuit that we know he is strong at is testament to the team, myself and all of the work that we have done with the CBR600RR. I’m looking forward to going again tomorrow.

#5 Dean Harrison

I got pushed right to the edge of the track at the start and it cost me a load of time, which meant I dropped into the second group. After that I just got stuck running at their pace rather than the pace that we had in practice. It’s frustrating because I know we had the pace for a better result than seventh, but we know we need to make a change for tomorrow to make it a bit easier to pass.

Bridewell navigates the changeable conditions to lead the championship once more

Tommy Bridewell and Honda Racing UK emerge once more at the top of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after a day of racing action in ever-changing conditions.

Sunday action for round nine of the championship took place at Oulton Park with a revised schedule implemented due to the relentless nature of the midday rain. Rolling out onto the grid for the first race of the day there was work to do for BSB riders Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin from ninth and sixteenth on the grid respectively. Especially as the shorter sprint race was reduced to just ten laps to accommodate the rain delays. Both riders worked hard though to make progress through the race, with Tommy holding off the fast-charging Rollo on the final lap to cross the line in fourth. Andrew Irwin meanwhile climbed seven places from his grid slot to finish back inside the top ten in ninth.

Arguably though, it was in the day’s second superbike race that Tommy delivered his most impressive ride of the day as he raced hard in treacherous mixed conditions with an intermediate front, slick rear tyre combination. He was running in a fighting third and looking threatening when the red flag was waved due to a track contamination as a result of a crash further down the field. Andrew Irwin meanwhile struggled to capitalise on his front row starting position and at the time of the red flag was down in tenth.

It was then all action in a frantic five-lap dash for the spoils, with Tommy displaying his fighting spirit once more to secure himself a strong second-place finish and podium number fourteen of the season. Although finishing behind rival Ryde, Tommy’s strong results in difficult conditions sent him back to the top of the championship table with a lead of six points. Andrew ran as high as fourth in this short sprint before dropping to eighth come the flag.

In British Supersport, the fortunes of race flags fell in the favour of Jack Kennedy’s rivals as a yellow flag waved at the final corner denied a late race move on Luke Stapleford for the final rostrum position. Jack’s fourth-place finish therefore sees it all level pegging at the top of the standings, albeit with Jack leading by dint of his win tally. Dean Harrison, in unfavourable conditions, raced to a top-ten finish in ninth.

Tommy Bridewell and his team now head to Cremona, Italy, to compete in round ten of the WorldSBK championship, before the team returns to a full stable at Donington Park in two weeks time.

#1 Tommy Bridewell

We came into this round nineteen points ahead, crashed out of yesterday in a very peculiar crash and ended the day six points behind, then after the two races today we have left six points in front. So it’s been a bit of a salvage job and we’ve come out of it alright to be fair. I’ve enjoyed Oulton Park and I love riding the Fireblade, but it’s been a tough round to tell the truth. I was really happy to pick up a second in the final race, yes being in front of Kyle is important but picking up the podium was important and our time will come. I was really happy with my pace on the inter front and slick rear in sketchy conditions which is honestly the strongest I have ever felt on that tyre combination in those conditions. That has never been my forte of conditions so to do that is a real confidence boost. We head to Donington in a few weeks quietly confident and excited to try some new parts which should suit that circuit.

#18 Andrew Irwin

Today has been about trying to navigate some of the trickiest conditions that you can have in racing, so to come away from the first race having gained seven positions to finish inside the top ten and then show strong pace in the final five lap race in the wet is positive. I think in the final race we showed we had strong pace and we were on for a solid finish, then I just got roughed up on the final lap and lost positions to finish eighth. I know these results are not an indication of our potential but I know that the pace is there, and this could easily have been a weekend where you crash out in such difficult conditions. I’m heading into a week off, I will focus on my training and then look to come back out strong at Donington.

#4 Jack Kennedy

Winning the race yesterday was exactly the result we needed to put points into Ben and Luke and bring ourselves further ahead in the championship. Then today was really all about managing the risk, to make sure we brought it home, and to maximise our points relative to our championship contenders rather than those we were racing with. I managed to get the better of Ben again which is important, but then Luke came past. I had a move lined up into Druids, got the run out of the corner and everything but then I saw the yellow flag waving so I couldn’t have a go. It is what it is, I won the race yesterday with the red flag, he got the better of me today with the yellow flag, that’s racing. I’m disappointed with a fourth but it’s a good result in the circumstances. We head to the next round now full of confidence in all conditions certain that they are going to play a factor in the races still to come.

#5 Dean Harrison

Those conditions are honestly the worst conditions for me to race in, when there are dry sections of track, wet sections of track and you have the narrowest of lines to race on, it is super difficult. I was in the leading group of nine or so riders for pretty much all of the race but to pass anywhere is just so difficult because as soon as you run off line you are into the wet patches and the bike starts sliding all over the place. It’s so easy to crash out of the race so to stay on and get the finish, yes it’s not the result we wanted but we will take it.

Posted on Monday, September 16th, 2024 in News

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