Glenn Irwin claims Sunday double at Snetterton to maintain British Superbike title lead

The Hager PBM Ducati rider lined up from pole but dropped to fourth on the opening lap of 16 before fighting his way through to the front.

Irwin took the lead on lap seven and was never decisively headed from there, although Honda Racing’s Bridewell tried all he could to find a way past and momentarily nosed in front on the final lap when Irwin ran wide.

On a breathless last lap, Irwin refused to cede ground and held on to win by 0.125s from reigning champion Bridewell, who also claimed the runner-up spot in Sunday’s first race.

Christian Iddon rounded out the top three on the Oxford Products Ducati ahead of Danny Kent (McAMS Yamaha), Kyle Ryde (OMG Yamaha) and Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK).

After five rounds, Irwin leads the standings by only four points from Bridewell.

Dublin’s Jack Kennedy (Honda Racing) won the Supersport Feature race from Ben Currie (Oxford Products Ducati), with Luke Stapleford in third on the Macadam Triumph.

Former champion Alastair Seeley finished fifth on the Binch Racing Yamaha.

Kennedy crashed out of Saturday’s wet Supersport race while leading on the last lap, with Ulsterman Seeley also falling foul of the conditions.

Eugene McManus was 10th in Sunday’s race on the ROKiT Haslam Racing Ducati.

In the National Superstock 1000 race, Scott Swann finished fifth with fellow Northern Ireland rider David Allingham in eighth.

The race was run over a five-lap sprint after being stopped because of rain.

Championship leader Davey Todd was fourth on the Cheshire Mouldings BMW, with Joe Talbot taking a narrow win on his Honda by 0.082s from Tom Ward, also Honda-mounted.

Nikki Coates finished as the runner-up in the main BMW F900R Cup race by only 0.011s as Thomas Strudwick claimed the win.

Republic of Ireland rider Derek Sheils was 10th.

The sixth round of the British Superbike Championship takes place at Brands Hatch from July 19-21.