BSB 2019 Thruxton Round-Up | Honda Engine Room

The Track

LENGTH: 2.3M 3.8KM

CORNERS: 11

LEFTHAND: 4

RIGHTHAND: 7

POLE POSITION: LEFT

BSB LAP RECORD: JOSH BROOKES - 1:14.884 (2015)

REPORT

Andrew Irwin claims maiden BSB win returning Honda to the top

Round seven of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton has been a fairytale weekend for Honda Racing’s Andrew Irwin, who claimed his maiden BSB victory in Race 1, to then follow it up with a second place finish in Race 2. Irwin’s visit to the top step is Honda’s first win in the championship since 2017 with the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2.

With blistering pace all weekend at the super-fast Hampshire circuit the 24 year-old became the sixth different race winner and Honda the fifth manufacturer to win so far this season. Starting the first race of the day in fifth place, Irwin charged off the line and was into the leading group from the first corner. Setting the fastest time of the 20-lap race on the third lap, the Irishman held his pace and the battle for the top step commenced.

The BSB fans were treated to an action packed race as the leading group traded places for the podium spots. Irwin made his move and jumped into the lead on lap 18, where he was able to defend his position with the Fireblade, crossing the line 0.223 seconds ahead of a chasing Scott Redding, to claim his first-ever BSB podium and race win.

Irwin started the second race from pole position, but after two restarts due to rain and then track contamination the race was an eight-lap sprint, which certainly didn’t disappoint. Restarting from fifth position, Irwin again went straight to the front and the podium battle was in full swing. With places swapped at each corner, the Honda-man stood his ground with the Fireblade and went onto claim second place after a nail-biting battle.

Forés also enjoyed a strong weekend as he made his debut at the 2.3-mile circuit, improving throughout each session and showing good pace aboard the Fireblade. Forés wrapped up the Thruxton weekend with two seventh place finishes, as well as scoring the third fastest lap in the second race. The Honda duo have now swapped places inside the Showdown-six with Irwin jumping into the sixth place spot and is just five points behind Tarran Mackenzie in fifth. Forés is close behind in seventh place with 132 points.

Over on the Superstock 1000 side of the garage, Tom Neave enjoyed another building weekend as he continues to secure vital points towards his championship. Showing good pace with the Superstock Fireblade machine, Neave pushed hard to comeback during his 16-lap race where he started from 14th, to take the chequered flag seventh. Neave’s results from the weekend see him maintain sixth in the overall championship with 92.5 points.

The Honda team will now look forward to its home round, where the eighth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place at Cadwell Park on 16/17/18 August.

To be honest I feel frustrated this weekend, I had good pace to be on the podium, but starting towards the back of the grid was hard to manage. The first few laps here are crazy and I had to adapt quite a bit to be strong in the first part of the race. The second race I did the third fastest lap, which means I am always improving lap-by-lap. Coming home with two seventh place finishes is good for me, especially at this kind of track where I have not ridden before and it’s not easy for me to defend my position. I feel if we can improve our qualification for the next races we will be so much more competitive. Good job from all the team, we had a great weekend and especially with Andrew’s win and podium, I feel we now have a really good package with the Fireblade

I have had a really enjoyable weekend and really enjoyed my racing today, it’s the most fun I have had on a bike in a long time! I love it at Thruxton, it’s such a great circuit and is fun to slide around. I enjoyed coming up from the back to catch people and start working my way forward, but I do make it hard for myself starting so far back! I am losing my races in Qualifying and then having to make up so many places early on, so by that time my race is done. If I qualify well then with the race pace I have I can run with the front guys. I beat the guys I needed to this weekend for the championship, so I just need to work on Qualifying now and make that next step.

Thruxton has probably been the best weekend of my life, it’s one that you never think will happen! I’ve had so much fun riding this weekend. We did loads of homework on Friday and Saturday and the Fireblade has been so good in all sessions, the boys did an awesome job! We did long runs in pretty much all sessions and we realised we had good pace, which gave me confidence to do a good job, We controlled the tyre wear and just had good pace throughout. In the second race Josh got away and the gap was too big to catch him in the end. We have continued to make steps forward and I really can’t thank everyone in the team and at Honda enough, along with everyone who’s behind me. We’ll head to Cadwell with the win and a second place under our belts and again the aim will be to be in the top-six!

It’s been an amazing weekend for Andrew to get on the podium, take his first win and also the pole position for the second race - it’s all credit to the team. I want to thank Xavi for his input and development, as well as Ian on his side of the garage for what we’ve been able to achieve so far this year. At the start of the season we felt we could fight for podiums and now we’ve celebrated them at Donington Park and Knockhill with Xavi and here today with Andrew. Andrew has moved into sixth in the championship, pushing Xavi back to seventh but I think it’s not unrealistic to think they both can be in the Showdown. Tom has also had a great weekend, it’s a shame he got caught up at the start, but he pushed through and progressed and it was great to see him coming from 14th to finish seventh. It’s a credit to him and also his team. The Superstock championship is very strong with some great riders, so we just need to keep moving forward and stay in the top-six and I am confident we can do just that.