Donington Park GP
3rd October 2020
The Track
Circuit length: 2.4873m / 4.0029km
Corners: 12
Lefthand: 5
Righthand: 7
BSB Lap Record : Shane Byrne - Kawasaki 1:29.512 (2015)
Double wins for Honda Racing at Donington Park
It has been an action-packed day for the Honda Racing team at Donington Park for the penultimate round of the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, after heavy rain yesterday saw the opening BSB and Superstock 1000 races postponed until today. With five races in a day across both championships, the Honda team leaves the Leicestershire circuit having scored a further two wins and two podiums with the all-new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, and title hopes still firmly in reach.
In the opening Superbike race of the day Andrew Irwin made it four BSB wins for the new Fireblade this season and claimed his third victory of the year, after a dominating race. After a difficult few rounds Andrew's confidence has returned and it was clear to see today as he took to the top step of the podium once again. Unfortunately in the second race of the day after starting from third place, his race ended on the first lap at the Melbourne Hairpin through no fault of his own. In the final race, after dropping back to 11th, he made his way through the pack to finish seventh.
The result of the first race was bittersweet for the Honda team, as title contender and teammate Glenn Irwin crashed out in the early stages having been caught out by the tricky conditions. With a DNF in the first race the championship was again all to play for and coming into the second race Glenn had his work cut out.
Finishing seventh in the second race, Glenn was sitting fourth in the standings, 22 points behind, so a good points haul in the final outing was crucial. With a fantastic start off the line he was fourth at the end of the first lap. Keeping his head down he was up to second in no time and on the tenth lap made a fantastic move on championship leader Josh Brookes for the lead. However, Tarran Mackenzie was also after the win, and snatching the lead, Glenn was pushed back to second place where he eventually took the chequered flag. Glenn is now third in the overall standings, with an 18-point deficit going into the final round in a few weeks' time.
Meanwhile for the Superstock 1000 team Tom Neave was celebrating after he clawed back vital points to also keep his title hopes alive, where he's now just ten points shy of the championship lead. Finishing the first race third, Tom showed the full potential of the new Fireblade in the second race, holding off a chasing Danny Kent to take his fourth victory of the season.
Teammate Davey Todd was caught out with the mixed conditions in the first race and with the track drying each lap, his full-wet set-up meant he suffered at the end of the race where he crossed the line 10th. In the second race a brake issue saw any progress hampered to finish 14th.
The Honda Racing team now head to Brands Hatch for the season finale on 16-18 October, where the Bennetts British Superbike Championship is all to play for with mathematically five potential riders who could become the 2020 champion.
#18 Andrew Irwin
This weekend has been a little up and down, but we won another race and it was something I needed to lift my spirits. In the second race unfortunately I got hit on the first lap and took out. It’s one of those things, I have been on both ends of it before, it’s racing and we will just move on from it. In race three it took me far too long to get going, I got a good start but kind of got beat up in the first turn, which upset my rhythm a bit. It then took me about four or five laps to get into it again but once I did we had quite good pace, we should have been fighting for the podium I feel but we didn’t and I came seventh. However the Fireblade felt good and I’ve built some confidence going into Brands, I think we can do a good job and I’m looking forward it.
#2 Glenn Irwin
If you summarise this weekend from a points view it was really disappointing because we have come away 18 points behind after starting the weekend in front, so to gain back some points in the last race was so important. In the final race I knew immediately from the warm-up lap that the Fireblade was working well, so hats off to the team, they deserved this second place position backing up Andy’s win. Again it’s an all-new Fireblade and over three races this weekend we have grabbed a first and a second place finish, Tom has also done a mega job again in Superstock. So looking ahead, it’s a big ask at Brands, I would rather be the one with the target on my back because if nothing changes you are the champion, but we won’t give up. The team never give up and neither will I.
#68 Tom Neave
I don’t know where to start really! It’s so good to be back in the hunt again, this weekend I was up against it and I knew all I could do was my best, try and stay out in front and beat Chrissy in every race, which is what I have done. We have clawed the championship back to ten points so anything can happen at Brands Hatch and you never know what the weather is going to throw at you in the middle of October! I have just got to keep playing my cards right and doing everything I can. I have ten days to prepare, tick all the boxes, get plenty of training in, ready to go to Brands with a fresh open mind and do the same again.
#74 Davey Todd
It’s been a crazy weekend for us, it was the first time with the new Fireblade in wet conditions, which was difficult for us all and learning curve for sure. In FP2 I ended up throwing it down the road where we could have got some wet time under our belts, but I knew I’d be strong in the wet which showed in warm-up on Saturday, where we finished second. We made a few changes to the bike ahead of the first race, where we had some mixed conditions, which threw us a little bit as we were fully set for wet conditions so struggled towards the end of the race. I felt like I had the pace in race two, the bike felt good, but I suffered a bit with a brake issue and dropped down the order towards the end. It was a bit of a disappointing weekend, but we'll move on to Brands and see if we can finish the season on a good note.
Team Manager Havier Beltran
It's been a weekend full of emotions with Glenn crashing out in race one, finishing second in the final race, Andrew back on the top step and Tom claiming another podium and a race win! We're back in the fight for both the British Superbike and Superstock 1000 championships, so really heading to Brands Hatch it's all to play for. I'm really pleased with the progress we've made this weekend, the guys have once again shown the potential of the all-new Fireblade and it was great to see Andrew back up there. We have some work to do ahead of the final round, but it's not over just yet for us.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 225
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 209
Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 207
Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 206
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 179
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 146
Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) 139
Lee Jackson ( Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki) 131
Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) 130
Danny Buchan ( Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki) 101
Farrer wins a five-rider battle at Donington to home in on the top
The number 71 takes the victory, Claridge crashes out and O’Shea finishes off the podium in Race 2
Sunday, 04 October 2020
Charlie Farrer (Victoria House Racing Academy / Mortimer Racing) took his second win of the year at Race 2 of Round 4 at Donington Park, battling his way to the front of a five-rider group to take the spoils in style. That cuts his gap to the top as Evan Belford (City Lifting by RS Racing) took second – also his first podium – with Casey O’Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing) completing the rostrum finishes. Race 1 winner Harvey Claridge (City Lifting / SP125 Racing) crashed out early on from the lead, putting a dent in his title chances.
When the lights went out it was Claridge who escaped in the lead, getting the hammer down immediately to make a gap on Lap 1. Eddie O’Shea (WAM) and Farrer on the chase initially, but O’Gorman cut his way through to second not long after and was also able to make some breathing space as he shot off in pursuit of Claridge. That left a squabble for third between Farrer, Belford, O’Shea and Franco Bourne (Franco Bourne Racing / SP125 Racing).
Drama then suddenly hit though, as Claridge slid out of his sizeable lead and went down – rider ok – leaving O’Gorman ahead in some clear air and the squabble behind promoted to a squabble for second. All contenders for the Cup bar Belford, the number 52 was the man with a little less to lose and he went toe-to-toe with O’Shea. Farrer, meanwhile, was able to break away and was on the hunt behind O’Gorman…
It didn’t take long for the number 71 to home in, looking for an attack and then bailing out slightly – and that allowing O’Shea through into second. O’Shea sliced through for the lead, Farrer followed, and Farrer then took over before the Foggy esses on Lap 5. It was far from over though, with another seven laps of perfectly pitched mayhem seeing the top five fight it out in a huge group battle at the front.
Coming up to the penultimate lap there was also traffic to contend with, as O’Shea, Belford and O’Gorman managed to pull a slight gap on Farrer and Bourne. Again, though, it seemed the blink of an eye before Farrer was back in the mix and looking for a way through for third. Onto the final lap,it was O’Gorman just ahead as O’Shea attacking Belford sent the two wide and the number 72 swept through, but would it be enough? Farrer was the man on the move, slicing through for second and then taking the lead down the hill into the esses. Could he hold it? Belford tried an attack but the number 71 kept it pinned to sweep round the outside, staying just ahead as the gaggle of riders blasted towards the line.
Farrer was able to keep it, taking his second win of the season and cutting the gap to the top as his 25 point-haul gave the title fight another twist. Belford impressed throughout to take his first podium in second, just a couple of tenths off, with O’Gorman forced to settle for third. Eddie O’Shea was off the podium for the first time since Round 1 as he took was fourth, and although he keeps his lead in the standings, it’s now down to only four points ahead of Farrer. Franco Bourne completed the top five and the number 17 is now 15 points off the top.
Corey Tinker (Stauff Fluid Power Academy) had a somewhat solitary but nevertheless impressive ride to sixth as he crossed the line well ahead of the rest following the top five home, with a good margin in hand over Ryan Hitchcock (Wilson Racing), another who had a solitary but solid ride as he took seventh.
James Cook (Wilson Racing) took P8 as he managed to pull clear of the fight for ninth, which became a three-way fight won by Ollie Walker (Moto Rapido /SP125 Racing) ahead of Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) and Lucas Brown (Amphibian Scaffolding / SP125 Racing).
That’s it from Donington, and the final countdown is well and truly on. O’Shea heads into the season finale four points clear of Farrer, 15 clear of Bourne, 27 ahead of O’Gorman and 29 ahead of Claridge. The top five are the only riders left in with a mathematical shot at the Cup, and everything will be decided in two weeks as the Honda British Talent Cup take on the classic Brands Hatch.
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