SILVERSTONE
10th - 12th SEPTEMBER
The Track
Circuit length: 1.604m (2581.3km)
Corners: 6
Lefthand: 2
Righthand: 4
BSB Lap Record : Jake Dixon – Kawasaki - 54.109 (2018)
Victory for Glenn Irwin and Honda Racing UK at Silverstone
Saturday, 4th September 2021
Glenn Irwin returned to the top step of the podium today, taking the win in a dramatic opening Bennetts British Superbike race at Silverstone's National Circuit, claiming his first race win of the 2021 season aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Building up to today's first Superbike race of the weekend Glenn was showing good pace and wrapped up Friday's combined practice sixth fastest promoting him straight into Q2. Qualifying fifth, Glenn started the race from the second row of the grid and stayed with the leading group during the first few laps. An incident with Takumi Takahashi brought out the safety car at the start of lap three, where Glenn's teammate was involved in an incident with Keith Farmer at Copse. Takumi is unhurt from the crash and will take part in Sunday's races.
As the race resumed Glenn pushed hard and was soon sitting in podium contention in second place. A move from Tarran Mackenzie saw Glenn drop back to third place, where he was having to defend challenges from a chasing Christian Iddon. On the penultimate lap Tarran and Jason O'Halloran crashed out, and with a clear track ahead Glenn took the race lead. However, soon after the crash the race was red flagged with Glenn declared as the Race 1 winner.
Ryo Mizuno has also got his Silverstone challenge off to a solid start getting into today's Q2 session for the first time this season. With his quickest qualifying lap of 53.570s, Ryo took his best qualifying position this season in 12th place. Enjoying the race and some on-track battles Ryo crossed the line 12th, collecting more valuable season points and also his best race finish of 2021.
Meanwhile Tom Neave in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship struggled to get a clear track during today's qualifying session, where he qualified 16th on the grid for his first race of the weekend. Knowing he had some work to do, Tom set about picking off his Superstock rivals as soon as the lights went out. Making up places lap by lap, Tom eventually crossed the line fifth, having made up an impressive 11 places throughout the 22-lap race. Setting the fastest time on lap four (54.673) Tom and his Fireblade machine will line-up in Pole Position ready for tomorrow's second race.
Glenn Irwin and Honda Racing UK secure Showdown spot
Sunday, 12th September 2021
Glenn Irwin and the Honda Racing UK team have confirmed their place in the all-important 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown in seventh place, after a solid point scoring weekend at Silverstone's National Circuit, and Tom Neave celebrated on the podium after placing the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP on the podium in the Pirelli National Superstock race.
Winning the opening race of the weekend, Glenn wrapped up Round 8 of the series finishing today's races 13th and ninth. Race 3 and the Showdown deciding race was restarted after a red flag on the 12th lap, with the restart as a 15-lap dash. With the grid decided from the positions at the time of the red flag, Glenn was 11th. Dropping back slightly, Glenn dug deep to make his way into the top-ten and crossed the line ninth, to secure a place in the all-important Showdown.
Ryo Mizuno had a strong weekend at his favourite UK circuit, having scored his best finish (12th) in yesterday's race, the BSB rookie finished today's first race just outside the points in 16th place, and wrapped up his weekend in the final race 15th. Suffering a little after his crash yesterday, Takumi Takahashi had a bad start off the line and wasn't able to fully push in today's first race to finish 22nd, with his luck not getting any better in the final race when he was forced to retire due to a technical issue.
Meanwhile Tom Neave kept his championship hopes on-track after taking a closely fought runner-up spot in today's race. Starting from Pole Position, Tom kept the chasing pack at bay for the majority of the race, but it was during the final stages where Alex Olsen was able to catch him. With Tom quicker in some sections and Alex in others, it was a tense battle to the line with Tom taking the runner-up spot 0.326s behind Alex.
The Honda Racing UK team now has a two week break, before the championship resumes with Round 9 at Oulton Park on 24-26 September.
#2 Glenn Irwin
A place in the Showdown was the goal coming into this weekend, I didn't think we would get a race win with the form of Yamaha and Suzuki from the past two seasons here, so to tick that off in Race 1 was amazing. In Race 2 we tried something with the bike and today was a day we could slightly get away with it with the points buffer, so it wasn't too detrimental to us, but it set us up for a nervy last race! I was riding round calculating the points, and 'if I crashed out now would I still have a place in the Showdown'. Today has been an enjoyable day, the Fireblade in Race 3 was a big step from the bike we had in Race 2 set-up wise. To make the Showdown, and go into it with some podium credits, considering we had a difficult start to the season technically, and with an injury, it hadn't been the smoothest of starts this year, but we made it into the Showdown!
#13 Takumi Takahashi
In Race 2 I made a bad start and it was a disappointing end to the race as I was unable to attack some of the corners due to my crash in Saturday's race. In Race 3 I was able to ride for a few laps without any strange feeling, but then I had a problem at the end of the fourth lap. It has been a difficult race weekend for us. I will continue to prepare for next round at Oulton Park.
#88 Ryo Mizuno
It was a very satisfying weekend. Thanks to the team staff, I think I was able to ride the best I could. This was my favourite track and I had a good run from FP1. In Race 2 we had a little trouble and I couldn't improve my pace, but by Race 3 I was able to improve and do my best riding. I would like to thank the team for their hard work. I'm looking forward to the next round at Oulton Park and hopefully we can make the continue to score points!
#68 Tom Neave
It's been a bit of a tricky weekend and not really the weekend I anticipated. There was 50 points up for grabs this weekend and we've not had a win and we've only lost two points of our championship lead, so really in the grand scheme of things we're in a really good position. We salvaged solid points and we've kept focus all weekend, if a bad weekend is only losing two points then we've done a good job! There's still a long way to go, and I feel sometimes it's important to have a testing weekend to keep us on our toes, keep focused and motivated. A massive thank you to the team and everyone supporting me!
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings
1 - Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 1071 pts
2 - Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 1041 pts
3 - Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 1026 pts
4 - Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 1024 pts
5 - Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 1015 pts
6 - Danny Buchan ( SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) 1014 pts
7 - Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 1012 pts
8 - Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 1002 pts
9 - Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) 182 pts
10 - Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 167 pts
Walker wins a dramatic Race 1 at Silverstone
Mounsey and Crosby complete the podium as Saturday sees a huge shake-up, with drama from start to finish
Saturday, 11 September 2021
The penultimate round of the Honda British Talent Cup promised it could be pivotal, and after a dramatic Race 1 at Silverstone that may already be proved half true. As drama hit for key contenders for the crown, it was Ollie Walker (Moto Rapido / SP125 Racing) who came through to take his first win, getting some deserved reward for running at the front after late heartbreak in a few recent rounds. Second was another first as Sullivan Mounsey (iForce Lloyd & Jones) stood on the rostrum for the first time after another standout ride, with Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) taking his second podium in third place once the dust settled in the wake of the shake-up.
It started with what's become the standard at lights out as Johnny Garness (City Lifting by RS Racing) took the holeshot from pole, with Casey O'Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing) slotting into second and an early breakaway forming as the duo were joined by Mounsey, points leader Evan Belford (City Lifting by RS Racing), Carter Brown (City Lifting by RS Racing), James Cook (Wilson Racing) and Jamie Lyons (C&M Motors Ltd / Tooltec Racing).
It didn't take long for that first bout of huge drama though. Heading into Maggots, Lap 3 saw Belford suffer a moment and the points leader tagged closest competitor O'Gorman as, shockingly, both the top two in the standings went down. Riders ok, but the door suddenly wide open for those on the chase to capitalise.
So then there were five, with Garness leading with a small margin by the next lap around. But he wasn't allowed to escape and the chasers soon closed in, with someone else closing in too: Walker. He and Crosby were on a charge and well in the mix in the front group by a third of race distance run.
On Lap 8, more drama. Cook overcooked it right after taking the lead, the number 34 sliding out and losing his shot at glory. The group that had gone from seven to five to seven again had become a six-rider freight train - with Mounsey in the lead.
Lap by lap, so it remained. A classic group battle between the six looked set to roll on right to the end and that it almost did, although Lyons and Crosby lost a little touch with the front four in the last few laps. but even more drama was to come, with Saturday delivering an absolute rollercoaster.
Heading over the line to start the final lap, it was Garness in the lead and Brown fighting off both Walker and Mounsey. But Brown was able to tag back onto the leader and by Luffield, he was close enough to attack - and went for the outside. Locked together initially, there was then contact as the number 74 tagged Garness and it was Garness was forced to sit it up and run on, the number 57 out of the race.
In the aftermath of that, Walker and Mounsey swept through to finish 1-2, both putting in their best races yet and hitting some impressive milestones - having been right there in the battle throughout. Brown crossed the line in third after that final drama of the race, seemingly having made some big gains, but the final final drama of the day was still to come for the number 74. For the incident with Garness, he was given the equivalent of a Long Lap penalty, a three-second time penalty, and drops to fifth - losing the chance to gain a much bigger chunk of points.
The duel between Crosby and Lyons went all the way to the wire and became the fight for third after the penalty for Brown, and the number 15 just took it by 0.075. So Lyons is forced to settle for fourth, and Brown completes the top five in the classification.
Sixth saw Troy Jeffrey (Stiggymotorsport) hold off Harley McCabe (MLav VisionTrack Academy) by half a second, but both impressing and Kiyano Veijer (Microlise Cresswell Racing) likewise as the Dutch rookie took P8. Josh Bannister (Dunsley Heat Racing) took his best finish by far in ninth, beating Harrison Dessoy (Thorneycroft56 Racing) by just 0.046 as he, in turn, held off Lucas Brown (Amphibian Scaffolding / SP125 Racing).
Brown victorious amidst some serious comebacks on Sunday
The number 74 wins and takes the points lead after Race 2, but some comeback kings steal a few headlines after a classic freight train battle at Silverstone
Sunday, 12 September 2021
Sunday saw Silverstone host another classic Honda British Talent Cup battle, with Carter Brown (City Lifting by RS Racing) coming out on top this time around - and taking the points lead with it. He struck late to take it and Jamie Lyons (C&M Motors Ltd / Tooltec Racing) followed him through to get back on the box at Silverstone, with the podium completed by Johnny Garness (City Lifting by RS Racing).
There was some drama from the off or rather before it for Race 1 podium finisher Sullivan Mounsey (iForce Lloyd & Jones), with problems on the grid forcing the number 4 to start from the very back of the grid. And after their drama on Saturday, both Casey O'Gorman (Microlise Cresswell Racing) and Evan Belford (City Lifting by RS Racing) were down in P18 and P20 for take two, making it quite a proposition for the duo heading in at the top of the standings as well.
At lights out it was Garness who got the best start, not from pole this time around but the number 57 still taking the holeshot in 57 style. Race 1 winner Ollie Walker (Moto Rapido / SP125 Racing) slotted into second with Brown in third, but it was a big group from the off as the three were joined by Lyons, Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing), Rhys Stephenson (Rocket Racing) and James Cook (Wilson Racing).
On comeback watch though, after only a handful of laps the three riders somewhat out of position had been absolutely storming through. By Lap 4, O'Gorman was at the head of the group chasing to catch the lead gaggle, up into eighth, and the 67 cut the gap quickly. Next it was the turn of Mounsey - up from 31st and the very back - as he led Belford and tucked in to push forward, both also managing to bridge that gap before long.
As the group gained three though, it started to lose one, with Cook beginning to fade by mid-race. However, the freight train fight for the lead was only hotting up, now nine-riders strong, with phase 1 of O'Gorman's charge completed as he took over at the front.
Heading onto the final lap it was still the number 67 in the lead, with Brown threatening just behind and Lyons in third as Garness shadowed. And the key move came from Brown. The number 74 lined it up and made it stick, with that tiny door opening more than enough invitation for Lyons too. Both sliced past O'Gorman and crossed the line just ahead, but there was an extra kicker for the number 67 too: on the drag to the line, Garness managed to pip him by just 0.009.
The 25 points for the win put Brown on top as the number 74 bounces back after a ore contentious Saturday at Silverstone, with Lyons finding rostrum form again and Garness making his slipstream prowess work to perfection once again. From P18 on the grid though, a 14-place gain and still 11 points off the top of the table is a stunner from O'Gorman.
The battle for fifth was a couple of tenths further back by the line, but it was won by Mounsey as he gained a whopping 26 places. O'Gorman impressed from P18 to thousandths off the podium, but Mounsey, who has one podium and had a second best result this season season of fourth, stormed to fifth position from the very back of the grid - not only taking one of his biggest points hauls of the year, but keeping his head when pressure came knocking.
Crosby was a tenth and a half further back, with Stephenson's impressive Sunday seeing him take P7, denied by just 0.047. In the end, Belford put together an impressive comeback from P20 but lost out in the group, taking P8 and losing the points lead to Brown. Walker completed the freight train, with Cook a bit further back and the number 34 completing the top ten.
Another day, another rollercoaster, and another shake-up. Sunday sees Brown head into the finale as the points leader, with six in hand over Belford, but O'Gorman is now only five further back too. Garness and Lyons remain in mathematical contention too. Who'll take the crown in 2021? We'll find out next time out as Donington Park Grand Prix layout puts the Honda British Talent Cup on the line in a few short weeks!
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