Andrew Irwin spurred on to win for baby son Ezra after rejoining Honda for British Superbike assault

​The Carrickfergus man and fiancée Sian celebrated the arrival of newborn son Ezra Irwin a few weeks before Christmas.

Irwin has re-signed for the Honda Racing UK team in 2023 after riding for Northern Ireland’s SYNETIQ BMW outfit on the M1000RR in 2021 and 2022.

The 28-year-old struggled to reproduce the results he achieved when he previously rode for Honda over two seasons in 2019 and 2020, although Irwin did finish last year strongly, claiming three podiums at the final two rounds of the series at Donington Park and Brands Hatch.

He replaces his brother Glenn in the Honda line-up, who left the team to sign for Paul Bird’s Ducati squad alongside Tommy Bridewell on the Panigale V4R.

Irwin clinched his maiden BSB victory in his first season as a Honda rider at Thruxton in 2019 and secured another three wins during a shortened six-round championship in 2020, which was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Irwin finished sixth in the standings in his last year with Honda but after his switch to SYNETIQ BMW did not yield the results he had hoped for, he feels he can ill-afford another year of underachievement.

Settling into life as a father for the first time, Irwin has renewed impetus to become a regular frontrunner again in 2023.

“I think it’s good, having a baby son is like another focus in life and something else that you can cast your mind to; sometimes that’s good because you can take your mind away from motorbikes,” Irwin said.

“I’m enjoying it and taking it all in my stride, and although I probably wouldn’t say I’m the best dad in the morning it’s all about learning and sussing the whole thing out!

“But I love it, I’m trying my best and I’m winging it a bit at times. I actually think I’ll gain a tenth in lap times rather than lose a tenth – that’s what I have in my head anyway.

“I have so much motivation to turn my career around and also now being a parent, I want to do a good job for my son and that’s something I can use as well,” he added.

“I need to be able to get my career back on track after two difficult seasons and I can’t afford to have a third one.

“For me, I think I’m joining Honda at the perfect time in terms of the next step in my career. To be able to get things back on track and be back fighting for the British Superbike Championship – that’s what I think I’m more than capable of doing.”

Irwin revealed that although he had several options for 2023, it was a straightforward decision to return to Honda to ride the Fireblade again.

His brother Glenn finished as the championship runner-up on the CBR1000RR-R in 2022 and Irwin is confident he has made the right move to rekindle his career.

“Coming back to Honda is the ideal scenario for me. I believe I’m going to one of the best, if not the best team, in BSB,” he said.

“I’ve rode for three teams now and I’ve seen how they all work – three factory teams and three different manufacturers.

“With Honda, I always had a really good feeling with the team and to return there is nice, it gives me confidence and gives me a little satisfaction as well after a couple of below par seasons.

“I loved my time with TAS and I’ve a lot of time for Philip (Neil, team owner) and appreciate that they gave me a job for two years and they kept me on for a second year whenever results weren’t that great the first year,” added Irwin.

“But we turned it around at the end of the year in 2022 and I think that I became one of the strongest riders in the last three or four rounds.

“The thing for me with the return to Honda is that I’ve always been chasing the feeling of that bike and to get back on it again, I know that it’s good. Whenever I last rode it the bike was good and to come back and work with ‘Spider’ again [Darren Maisey, crew chief], who I worked with in 2019 helps me gel back into the team.

“It gives me a lot of excitement and there’s no secret that I had quite a lot of options, but it was my decision to come back to Honda because I believe it’s the best package to be on to win races in 2023.

“That’s what I want to be doing and with the team around me and the right preparation from me, most importantly in the mindset, I think that all bodes well for a really strong season.

“A good season for me is getting my career back on track and being consistently on the podium.”

Irwin and team-mate Tom Neave are due to begin pre-season testing at the start of March in Spain.

Three official BSB tests are scheduled before first round of the British Superbike Championship over the Easter weekend at Silverstone from April 7-9, taking place at Navarra in Spain (March 11-13), Donington Park (March 25-26) and Silverstone (March 28-29).

“I test the first two weeks in March with something like eight days in Spain,” Irwin said.

“It’ll be a chance to get back on the Honda and see where it has improved and hopefully I can add my spin on the bike and try and improve it even more. Let’s see what the season brings.”