Glenn Irwin bags BSB treble at Silverstone

The Honda Racing rider recovered from a raft of injuries sustained in a pre-season crash in March, including five broken vertebrae and pelvic and hand fractures, to double his tally of BSB wins to six after a dream start to the season.

He holds a lead of 29 points over OMG Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde ahead of the second round at Oulton Park in less than two weeks’ time, which takes place a fortnight before the North West 200.

“A huge thanks to the team and I had to work for that because of the talent there is at this level,” Irwin said.

“Massive thanks to Honda because it’s where they should be because they are one of the best motorcycle brands, or probably the best, in the world and they should be winning races.”

On Saturday, Irwin held off OMG Yamaha riders Kyle Ryde and Bradley Ray to open his account with a maximum 25 points, taking his fourth career BSB win by just 0.139s at the 1.6-mile National circuit.

It was the perfect beginning to the season for the 32-year-old, who set the fastest ever BSB lap of Silverstone in qualifying to secure pole.

Irwin doubled up in race two, digging deep to keep a determined Ryde at bay on the last lap and winning a drag race to the line by only 0.079s.

Ray had been leading the race until he slid out at Luffield on lap 21 when he was coming under pressure from Irwin.

Rory Skinner took third on the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki with the top three covered by less than one second.

Irwin completed his hat-trick in style as he led for most of the final 30-lap race yesterday after swapping places for the lead with Skinner during the opening laps.

Ray began to reduce Irwin’s advantage in the closing stages, but the Carrickfergus man was in control and clinched a memorable treble by eight tenths of a second, with Irwin’s brother Andrew joining him on the podium after he finished third behind Skinner.

The SYNETIQ BMW rider had to fend off Skinner on the final lap to ensure his place on the rostrum.

Irwin finished sixth in Saturday’s opening race and fifth in race two.

Former World Superbike champion Tom Sykes had a challenging weekend on his return to the series on the PBM Ducati.

Sykes was 12th in race one and suffered a painful high-side in the second race, with the Yorkshireman completing the weekend in 16th in race three. His team-mate Josh Brookes also struggled, finishing 13th, 11th and 18th.

Reigning champion Tarran Mackenzie was ruled out of the first round after fracturing his ankle during a crash in pre-season testing.

The McAMS Yamaha rider also misses this weekend’s second round of the World Superbike Championship at Assen in the Netherlands, where he was due to make a wild card appearance.