Knockhill Round-Up | Honda Engine Room

The Track

Circuit length: 1.2713m / 2.04595km

Corners: 9

Lefthand: 3

Righthand: 6

BSB Lap Record : Leon Haslam - Kawasaki - 47.462 (2018)

Tom Neave leads the Honda charge at Knockhill

Saturday, 10th July 2021

The second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship got underway today at Knockhill running a two-day event programme, which saw a busy day for the Honda Racing UK team with Superbike and Pirelli National Superstock practice sessions and qualifying, as well as the first BSB race of the weekend.

For the team it was Superstock rider Tom Neave who took the top-Honda honours in today's sessions aboard the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. Never outside the top-10 in both practice sessions, Tom qualified sixth putting him on the second row of the grid for tomorrow's first 25-lap Superstock race.

On the Superbike side of the garage it's been a frustrating day for Glenn Irwin who came home 12th in today's opening Superbike race. Having had issues throughout practice and qualifying, the 20-lap race further highlighted these issues, which made it impossible for Glenn to make progress.

Glenn's teammates Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi continued with their development in the British series learning all they can and putting in essential laps for tomorrow's two Superbike races. Both riders improved their times throughout the sessions and during the race Ryo finished 20th, with Takumi 22nd.

Solid weekend of points for Tom Neave at Knockhill

Sunday, 11th July 2021

Honda Racing UK's Tom Neave holds seventh place in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship standings after a positive weekend at Knockhill. Leading the way for the Honda team aboard the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, Tom finished fourth and fifth in the day's two races and boosted his championship position to seventh place after arriving this weekend with zero points on the table.

Meanwhile for Glenn Irwin in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, today was a vast improvement on yesterday's frustrations. Coming home 11th in Race 2, Glenn and the team worked hard to improve the set-up of the Fireblade at the Scottish circuit, but in the final race of the day it wasn't to be as Glenn crashed out, unhurt, while chasing down 10th place.

Teammate Ryo Mizuno continued to make progress aboard the Fireblade, as he continues to get to grips racing in the UK. An 18th place finish was the best of the pick for Ryo in the second BSB race of the weekend. Meanwhile Takumi Takahashi enjoyed putting in over 200 laps of Knockhill during his first visit to the venue. Still struggling with strength in his shoulder Takumi's highest place finish across the weekend was 21st.

The Honda Racing UK team will now head back to its Louth-base in Lincolnshire and prepare for the third round of the championship which takes place over 23-25 July at Brands Hatch.

#2 Glenn Irwin

Racing in 11th isn't usually what gets us excited, but the progress we've made this weekend has been massive. Fair play to the boys in that last race I felt strong and I probably could have caught the guys ahead of me. Everyone will talk about the crash, but that was 1% of the race as 99% was so positive. This weekend we have struggled a bit from a physical point of view, but the changes the boys made to the bike made it easier to ride, and I could also go faster. I'm gutted for them to be honest, I can take it on the chin but they've worked hard all weekend and it's been testing at times! How we turned up for the last race shows the progress and we were able to respond properly. The Fireblade is new to this circuit, so we had a bit to learn this weekend but I am looking forward to coming back, it's just a shame it ended with a crash.

#13 Takumi Takahashi

Today was as difficult as yesterday's race for me. During today's first race I had some problems and retired from the running. During the first half of the final race I was getting better little by little, but going into the second half my shoulder became weak and I couldn't hold the pace I had been running until the end. I will continue to train until the next race and prepare for the ride.

#88 Ryo Mizuno

It's been a very tough weekend. I feel like I've been running all the way from Saturday's free practice to today's Race 3 and now I'm feeling very tired. It's been a weekend where I've been able to step up my performance little by little. I'm not satisfied with the race results but I'm happy that I could finish the three races. I'm still working on my physical condition and I'm looking forward to the next race at Brands Hatch.

#68 Tom Neave

You always want to finish at the top in a race, or at least be on the podium, but I did what I came to do this weekend and that was to finish both races and get some solid points for the championship. For the most part this weekend we went faster in each session and just continued to understand the Fireblade a bit more. I can go home happy and relax, we came into the weekend with zero points and now we're seventh in the standings. I'm still getting over an illness and also recovering with my knee, so things still aren't 100% perfect. It's a long season and there's so much more we can do, so we'll keep at it and keep playing the long game.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings

1 - Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 111 pts

2 - Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 105 pts

3 - Danny Buchan ( SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) 91 pts

4 - Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 76 pts

5 - Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 61 pts

6 - Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 60 pts

7 - Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 57 pts

8 - Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 46 pts

9 - Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) 45 pts

10 - Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) 42 pts

12 - Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 23 pts

Belford pulls clear to take to the top step in Race 1

Sunday, 11 July 2021

Evan Belford (City Lifting/RS Racing) started his Sunday in style at Knockhill as the number 52 bolted off at the front and only continued to pull away, crossing the line over eight seconds clear of teammate Johnny Garness for his first win of the year. Garness took his first podium of the season in second, just getting ahead of a fight for third that saw Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) pip Cormac Buchanan (Microlise Cresswell Racing) by hundredths.

There was key Cup drama ahead of lights out for two competitors, too. Casey O’Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing), the points leader going in after doing the double at Oulton Park, crashed in FP2 and was sidelined for the rest of the weekend. Then, on a Warm Up lap ahead of Race 1, Carter Brown (City Lifting/RS Racing) found himself on the end of bad luck as a technical issue forced him to bail off his machine and out of the race, also leaving him well down the grid for Race 2.

As the lights went out though, Belford got a great start from pole to get the hammer down early and the number 52 was able to pull out some breathing space even by the end of Lap 1. From there, his advantage only increased as he pulled the pin and, by the time he met the chequered flag, the City Lifting/RS Racing rider was over eight seconds clear for his first victory of 2021.

That left Garness in second, with Crosby picking his way past Jeffrey into third. Cormac Buchanan (Microlise Cresswell Racing) then swept past both to take over in P3, and the New Zealander was there to stay in the podium fight.

There were a number of crashers, including Ryan Hitchcock (Wilson Racing) and Sullivan Mounsey (iForce Lloyd & Jones).

Belford knocks it out the park to do the double at Round 2

Evan Belford (City Lifting/RS Racing) made it double delight at Knockhill as he repeated his Race 1 disappearing act in the afternoon, taking another 25 points to consolidate his lead in the standings. Another close fight for second decided the rest of the podium, with Johnny Garness (City Lifting/RS Racing) taking it by a tenth. Cormac Buchanan (Microlise Cresswell Racing) took third for his first podium in the Honda British Talent Cup, just staying ahead of James Cook (Wilson Racing).

Belford got the holeshot from pole, with Garness soon up into second from the head of the second row. It wasn't quite the immediate replay of Race 1, however, as Garness was able to make an attack not long after and the number 57 briefly took the lead. It didn't last though, with Belford gathering it back up and slicing back through to begin pulling away once again.

That left a big squabble behind Belford, with Garness enjoying some close company from Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing), Buchanan and Cook as they fought it out and the number 52 got the hammer down in the lead.

Meanwhile in sixth, Bailey Stuart-Campbell (Team 151s) was holding off an incredible charge from Carter Brown (City Lifting/RS Racing). Down well outside the top 20 on the grid after not making the start of Race 1, the number 74 made up nearly 20 places in the early stages of the race. Stuart-Campbell then headed a little wide as well, allowing Brown to sweep past to try and hunt down Cook down the road in fifth.

After some shuffles through backmarkers and with five to go, it was still a close squabble but the outcome for Crosby was decided early as the Banks Racing rider slid out of the fight, leaving Garness holding off Buchanan and Cook. That fight went all the way to the wire, but the number 57 was again so quick in a straight line and Garness just took it by a tenth, with Buchanan nevertheless taking a first ever podium in third place. Cook, although close, was forced to settle for fourth although one better than his fifth place in Race 1.