British Superbike contender Glenn Irwin tempering expectations at 'tough' Ducati track Thruxton

The Ulster rider is second in the championship, 34.5 points behind his BeerMonster Ducati team-mate Tommy Bridewell going into the seventh of 11 rounds.

Irwin will be looking to claw back some ground on Bridewell, who is riding the crest of a wave after winning five of the last six races to set the pace in the title race for Paul Bird’s team.

However, Thruxton has not been a particularly happy hunting ground circuit for Ducati in recent seasons, and 33-year-old Irwin is tempering his expectations.

“We are learning all the time and tyre management is always critical around Thruxton, so it will be interesting to see how that pans out with the optimum SCD Pirelli tyre, which will be a different challenge for us all,” said the Carrick man.

“I guess as form has shown so far this year the Ducati has been competitive everywhere, but we go into the weekend with an open mind as it could be one of the tougher rounds.

“Certainly, at the start of the year we expected Silverstone and Thruxton to be tough and we will go into the weekend with open eyes, do our work as we did at Brands Hatch, and see how it pans out.

“If the racing is as good as last year, it will be fantastic for the fans, and I hope to be in there challenging at the front.

“I expect Yamaha to be really strong as always, we know ‘Hicky’ [Peter Hickman] has shown good form, as has Josh [Brookes] in the past, so there will be a lot of riders in the mix,” added Irwin, who last won at Knockhill in Scotland in June, clinching a double.

“The Honda was competitive there last year, so I expect Danny [Kent] to be up the front, so I feel like it is one of those weekends where it could be any one of ten riders winning.”

On Friday, Irwin was eighth fastest in free practice, just under two hundredths of a second quicker than Bridewell.

McAMS Yamaha rider Jason O’Halloran topped the timesheets by 0.192s from Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Racing Honda), with just over half-a-second covering the top ten.

Dublin’s Jack Kennedy was sixth quickest for Northern Ireland team Mar-Train Racing Yamaha.

Irwin’s younger brother Andrew misses a fourth consecutive round as he strives to reach full fitness after breaking his right humerus in a crash during a test at the end of May.

His place in the team has been filled by 19-year-old Franco Bourne in the meantime, with Irwin targeting a return at round eight in two weeks’ time at Cadwell Park.

National Superstock 1000 rider Alastair Seeley, fourth in the championship, was fifth quickest in the combined practice times on the SYNETIQ BMW. The first Superstock 1000 race is scheduled for 14:45 BST on Saturday.

The 14-lap BSB Sprint on Saturday afternoon is at 16:15 BST with Sunday’s 20-lap encounters scheduled for 13:30 BST and 16:30 BST.