This weekend the 2017 MCE British Superbike Championship kicked off at Donington Park and saw the Honda Racing team get to work with the all-new Fireblade in its debut British race weekend. Riders Dan Linfoot and Jason O’Halloran struggled in the early sessions, but with the sun shining over the Leicester circuit, both races saw big improvements for the Honda team on race day.

After a difficult start with challenging weather conditions and the team still developing the new Fireblade machines, Linfoot and O’Halloran both had a strong opening race, slashing seconds off their practice times. Getting a good start off the line, both made up places during the opening laps and continued to improve throughout the 20-lap race. The O’Show eventually crossed the line tenth with Linfoot hot on his heels in 11th.

Race two saw Linfoot get a flying start and by the end of the first lap had made up four places and was sitting 12th. By mid-race the Yorkshireman had tracked down the top-ten, but it wasn’t long before team-mate O’Halloran made his move and the pair traded places. Making his way through the field after an unlucky start, the Aussie set his sights on another tenth place finish and swooped in on Linfoot.

With the two Hondas neck and neck for some time, O’Halloran took the advantage and continued to hold the tenth place spot until he crossed the line. Meanwhile Linfoot who struggled with rear tyre chatter towards the end of the race, crossed the line 12th.

The team will now look at the data collected from the weekend and will start working on the Fireblades in preparation for the next round of the championship, which takes place at Brands Hatch on 15-17 April.

Dan Linfoot #4: 

Overall this weekend we have made progress and have constantly improved. Of course I would have liked to finish slightly higher than 11th and 12th but we still have lot to learn and we’re not too far away from unlocking the true potential of the all-new Fireblade. In race one we made a step forward with the low range power and controlling the spin off the side of the tyre, then in race two I had a better start and was entering the corners with more speed and the lap times were better. It was about mid-way when I started to feel a lot of tyre chatter on corner entry and just had to manage and bring the CBR home. It’s not a huge step today, but we have made a step forward! We need to take the data collected from the weekend, review it all and work towards Brands Hatch.


Jason O’Halloran #22: 

Well that’s the first race weekend out the way and although it probably looks on the outside that we’re struggling we’re really making progress and everyone is still learning with the new Fireblade. Race one was a huge learning curve for us, and the 20 laps were the longest run I’ve had on the new bike. The boys have been working hard trying to improve the power and engine braking and for race one it felt a lot better and I was happy with tenth. Race two, although was the same result it was a positive outcome for us. I lost a lot of time in the start, about three seconds, but I got my head down and pushed hard to make up places. For the rest of the race there was a big improvement and the times were half a second faster per lap, than race one! The CBR felt more comfortable and I was able to push, which I hadn’t felt was possible before. We have a light at the end of the tunnel and I think with another step like today, we can probably move up into fifth/sixth position - there is more work to do but I am feeling a little more confident.

Havier Beltran, team manager: 

It has been a difficult start to the season for Honda Racing and we know we have been on the back foot a little, we’re not going to blame anything but we know we have work to do. I believe that we have progressed throughout the weekend and we have a better understanding of what is required and how to achieve that. I know that Dan and Jason aren’t too happy, I can see that in them, they want to be at the front and they are capable of running at the front. It’s the same with the crew, they are disappointed with some little things and they know we can do better. But we do have some positives we can take with us, we all need to get our heads together now, analyse the data and have a better platform for Brands.