RACE REPORT Sunday 15th October 2023
The second Bennetts British Superbike race of the final round and the first of the day’s races took place in glorious autumnal sunshine, albeit in chilly track conditions. Honda Racing UK riders Tom Neave and Andrew Irwin lined up on the grid in fourteenth and seventeenth respectively.
Both riders rocketed away from the line as the lights went out and made up positions on the opening laps as the field jostled for position. By lap three Andrew had passed Tom and was running inside the points.
A brief safety car period in the middle of the race brought the field closer together and the intra-team battle was beginning to heat up as Andrew and Tom ran in formation. As the safety car peeled into the pitlane, Tom made his move and passed his teammate. This battle continued for the remainder of the race and as the chequered flag was raised the two would cross the line separated by just 0.053 seconds as they finished twelfth and thirteenth.
The final race of the day once more saw Tom Neave and Andrew Irwin battling from the lower grid slots. Undeterred and with a reputation for better race pace though, Tom Neave would fight through from nineteenth on the grid to finish in thirteenth position – sealing off the year with a final points tally of 89 and sixteenth in the championship. Andrew Irwin gained more racing mileage as he continued his recovery from injury to finish in seventeenth place.
In an intense Superstock title fight that went down to the final race of the year, Dan Linfoot emerged victorious on his Optimum Bikes Racing Fireblade to seal an emphatic victory in the race, and with it championship glory. Honda mounted riders Richard Kerr, AMD Motorsport, and Joe Talbot, JR Performance Racing, completed the podium. Dan Linfoot’s race win was his ninth of the year in a season in which a Honda has won all but one race and with at least two Fireblade-mounted riders on every podium of the year. His championship victory also marks the third year in a row that a Honda rider has sealed the title, 2021 Tom Neave, Honda Racing UK & 2022 Davey Todd, Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles.
The Honda Racing team now heads into the off-season and will announce its 2024 racing plans in due course.
#68 Tom Neave
I did exactly what I said I was going to do this weekend. I wanted to end the season on a high with a smile on my face, finish all the races and get three point scoring finishes to my name. I had a really good ride in race two but I didn’t achieve the best lap time so I had to start the final race from nineteenth. I worked my way all the way up to twelfth, but had to settle for thirteenth after experiencing a few moments with the bike. I never gave in, I fought till the end and had a really good feeling with the bike. You always want a better result but to end the season with a good feeling and knowing that my confidence is coming back and having some fight in me is a huge step from where I have been in previous rounds, I can end the season on a much brighter note and I have a fire in my belly for the future.
Race 2 – 12th Race 3 – 13th
#18 Andrew Irwin
It’s not been the easiest of years, definitely the hardest without any question but honestly, this weekend has been a lot more positive. At Donington I didn’t finish a race, I didn’t really have the energy and I probably wasn’t ready to come back and race. Whereas this weekend I have completed all of the racing laps and I feel a whole lot better. The last race was really disappointing, honestly I just didn’t have anything left. Of course, it is disappointing but sometimes in racing you know where you are and how you are feeling, and for this one it was about not doing anything stupid and bringing it back in one piece. Now I can look forward to 2024 and I want to rebuild strongly and bounce back from a difficult year to create my best.
