OULTON PARK

BSB rookies Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi got their first taste of a Saturday in the British series with qualifying and Race 1 taking place. Throughout the weekend Ryo’s times have improved as he continues to learn the layout, as well as getting up to speed riding with Pirelli tyres. Making up places from his 25th position on the grid, Ryo crossed the line 19th.

Teammate Takumi also worked to improve his lap times from Friday’s practice sessions. Having not long recovered from a dislocated shoulder, Takumi was keen to start the race and experience a BSB start procedure, but despite a valiant effort, he pulled in on the eighth lap. 

In the Pirelli National Superstock class, Tom Neave enjoyed a positive qualifying session finishing sixth overall in the combined times and will start tomorrow’s 14-lap race from the second row of the grid. Making strides all weekend, Tom’s quickest lap today was 1.616 seconds faster than his qualifying time last year, where he started the race from 16th place. The Superstock race gets underway at 14.30 on Sunday (27th June). 

A weekend of positives despite challenges at Oulton Park

Sunday, 27th June 2021

It's been a weekend of learnings for the Honda Racing UK team at the opening round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, but despite the challenges thrown at them by Oulton Park, the Honda team are leaving the Cheshire circuit with plenty of positives.

Improvements have been made to both the Superbike and Superstock side of the garage with Glenn Irwin and Tom Neave improving their lap times over the weekend since the last outing in 2020. But Oulton Park is still a circuit that continues to taunt the Honda team, producing challenges for the set-up of the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP with its physical layout. 

Glenn Irwin comes away from Round 1 with 23 points and is ninth in the series standings after collecting three top-ten finishes across the weekend. The team made a gamble in the final race with the Fireblades set-up, which paid off, although not fully showing on the times or results. 

Glenn started the race from 10th on the grid but was pushed off track by another rider early on causing him to drop places to 19th. Getting his head down wanting to make up the lost places, Glenn worked hard aboard the Fireblade SP to make his way through the pack to come home 10th. 

Takumi Takahashi put on a brave face taking part in both of the day's races, but with weakness in his shoulder having dislocated it during official testing Takumi pulled out from Race 2. During today's final race the BSB rookie stayed out for the duration of the 18 laps coming home in an impressive 17th place having gained experience and confidence at the track. 

Ryo Mizuno continued to push on learning the circuit but unfortunately crashed out during the second race and with swelling to his hand he was forced to miss the final race. After the crash Ryo was taken to the medical centre with initial X-rays showing no fractures, however the team will seek further medical advice next week once the swelling has gone down. 

During the Superstock race a fight for the podium was on the cards for Tom Neave, who after qualifying sixth had moved up into fourth place and had started to track down Billy McConnell in third. However pushing hard to catch Billy, Tom crashed out of the running, unhurt, at Lodge. 

The team now looks forward to the second round of the championship at Knockhill in Scotland, where a few weeks ago they enjoyed a successful test and hope to fight towards the sharp end. Round 2 will take place with a two-day race event format on Saturday 10 - Sunday 11 July.