Glenn Irwin defiant after British Superbike title blow at Brands Hatch and vows 'we will win this championship in the future'
Glenn Irwin remains steadfast in his belief that he will become Northern Ireland’s first British Superbike champion ‘in the future’ after a crash in Saturday’s race at the Showdown finale at Brands Hatch effectively ruled him out of title contention.
Two races of the 2024 season remain on Sunday but Irwin is 70 points behind leader Kyle Ryde, who is one point in front of reigning champion Tommy Bridewell.
Irwin could still mathematically win the championship, but the Hager PBM Ducati rider would need to clinch a Sunday double and hope that Ryde and Bridewell somehow failed to score any further points.
The Carrickfergus man showed plenty of grit and determination on Saturday when he fought his way through from the fifth row of the grid after starting in 15th position following a frightening crash in qualifying, which left him with an ankle injury.
The 34-year-old went down at high speed following an issue with his Panigale, with his brother Andrew – who was following behind on the Honda Racing UK Fireblade – also crashing in the same incident.
The duo were fortunate to escape injury but found themselves further down the grid for the weekend’s opening round as a result.
Undeterred, title hopeful Irwin scythed his way through the pack in challenging wet conditions and had climbed to fourth behind Bridewell when he slid off at Graham Hill Bend on lap 15 of 20.
Honda rider Bridewell finished on the podium in third with OMG Yamaha’s Ryde behind him in fourth, setting up a final day battle in a two-horse race to be crowned British champion.
For Irwin, it was a disappointing end to his championship challenge with two races still to run but he has pledged to regroup next year and go again.
“It’s been one of those years where we’ve had some ups and downs at times, and we’ve had some awful bad luck – it’s just part of racing,” said Irwin.
“The Ducati struggles a lot for edge grip and when you have conditions like that, in some areas of the track it’s really, really tough.
“What is frustrating is that when I crashed I didn’t go in deep, I didn’t do anything where you go ‘that was stupid’. It just wasn’t meant to be and I accept that.
“We will be back and we will win this championship for sure in the future.”
Danny Kent won the race for Northern Ireland’s Mar-Train Racing team on the McAMS Yamaha.
It was Kent’s maiden BSB success and the first triumph in the class for Mar-Train Racing owners Tim and Sonya Martin.
Former Moto3 world champion Kent took the win from Ryan Vickers (OMG Yamaha), with Bridewell and Ryde next.
Kent will start from pole in Sunday’s BSB Sprint race (12:30 BST) and is joined on the front row by Vickers and Glenn Irwin.
Bridewell heads up the second row in fourth while Ryde starts from the third row in seventh.
The final race of the season on Sunday at scheduled for 16:00 BST over 20 laps.