Honda Racing claims trophies at 2025 BSB season finale
The 11th and final weekend of the 2025 racing season has come to a close at Brands Hatch. Honda Racing UK claimed honours in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) and Quattro British Supersport Championship.
In Supersport, after claiming second place on Saturday, Jack Kennedy retained an outside chance of retaining the title.
He has won it five times previously. He needed to take victory with neither of his nearest rivals finishing the race in the points. However, the top three riders in the series filled the top three positions. Kennedy claimed second place on the road and third place in the season’s standings.
However, the season-long performance of Kennedy and, in the first nine rounds, that of his team-mate Dean Harrison, was sufficient. Honda Racing UK claimed the teams’ championship crown. This was a testament to the performance and reliability of the Honda CBR600RR.
Pride was at stake for the factory Honda Fireblades in the final round of the season.
Honda Racing sought to end the season on a high note. Tommy Bridewell recovered well from crashing out of the first race of the weekend on Saturday. He rode to seventh place in the first of two races on Sunday, with Harrison finishing 17th.
The final race of the weekend was held in treacherous wet conditions. Several riders retired – not least Harrison, who fell back after being caught up in an incident early on and withdrew from the race. Meanwhile, Bridewell continued to chip away at the leading group. As the race grew more attritional, he picked his way through to reach the podium in third place overall.
The third and final Superstock race of the weekend was held in the worst weather conditions throughout the weekend. As a result, making only his third appearance of the season in the class, John McGuinness MBE was among the riders who elected to withdraw. He did so with the backing of the team.
Honda Racing UK will return to action at the start of the 2026 season. The full schedule of its activities and rider line-up will be announced in due course.
Jack Kennedy
“I gave it everything this weekend. I’m quite happy with my performance in the dry yesterday, I rode the absolute wheels off it and couldn’t have done any more. I beat my own lap record by four tenths in yesterday’s race, then I rode as hard as I could in the wet today – and stayed on it! That was obviously the main goal. We needed DNFs from the other riders, really, this weekend to win the championship, and that didn’t happen. We can all be happy with our performances and the job we’ve done this weekend as a team. The guys gave me a fantastic bike in the Honda CBR600RR both in the wet and in the dry. I think we did a good job. It’s been a way more competitive season this year, really hard-fought, and with us as the only 600cc bike there were between six and eight riders who could win every round. I feel like we’re doing a great job with what we have, we’ve had some real stand-out wins and stand-out moments. I’ve got a couple of DNFs there at races I maybe could have won but there’s nothing we can do about that now and we won the teams’ championship. It’s a testament to the whole team and Dean and his crew deserve every credit for that too.”
Tommy Bridewell
“What a year, what a last race! Honestly, to sum up the whole season would be difficult. It’s been a rollercoaster… I think that’s the best way to describe it. I’m obviously really chuffed to sign it off with a podium, because, honestly, we’ve been on the ropes this whole year and only once in a while have we come out and landed a few blows. Today was one of those days, though. The team built a great bike, it was really, really strong. It just took me a few laps to find my bearings and get going, because it was really tricky out there, but we ended up on the podium.”
Dean Harrison
“Well, we can add the Supersport teams’ championship to my TT wins this year, I’ll take that happily and the team certainly deserves it. It was an up-and-down day today on the Superbike. We ran strongly and had a good battle in Race 2, but I got caught up in the melee at the start of Race 3. My pace was okay, but then two riders crashed right in front of me which wasn’t ideal and it set us back so far that we were just in no man’s land, riding around for the sake of riding around. That’s frustrating as an end to the year, but we’ll just start afresh next season. Overall, this year had a lot more positives than anything else, so let’s hope to build on that for next year.”
John McGuinness MBE
“It’s been a positive weekend, really, adding to lots of things from this season that were good that we can take into the winter. The boss said that there was no problem bringing the bike into the pits today if I wasn’t feeling it, and both Michael Dunlop and myself came in together and parked up because we’ve got bigger fish to fry next year. You don’t want to slip off here and do some damage, and it’s been a good weekend, running in the top half of a competitive field. I’ve set a lot of personal bests over this year, I’ve really enjoyed working with the team and there’s nothing to sulk about. I’m still proud to pull a Honda shirt on and to be there or thereabouts at the end of the day. Everyone works so hard, from the hospitality guys to the engineers to the riders, so that all makes it a real pleasure to be here.”