Glenn Irwin in new two-year deal with PBM Ducati for British Superbike title assault

Irwin recently announced his retirement from road racing and will now concentrate solely on becoming Northern Ireland’s first BSB champion.

The PBM Racing team was taken over by Paul Bird’s children, Jordan and Frank, after he tragically passed away aged only 56 last September following a short illness.

Carrickfergus man Irwin has twice finished as the title runner-up, including agonisingly missing out by only half-a-point to his then team-mate Tommy Bridewell in 2023.

This year, the 34-year-old finished third overall in the standings behind OMG Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde and Bridewell, who made the switch to the Honda Racing UK squad.

Irwin, who won eight races this season on the Panigale V4R, said continuing with PBM was his top objective.

“First of all, to re-sign with PBM and to continue onboard the Ducati was an absolute priority; to be honest it didn’t take much negotiation,” said Irwin, who became the most successful Superbike rider in history at the North West 200 in May, sealing a treble to extend his unbeaten streak to 11 successive victories – two more than the previous record jointly held by Ulster motorcycling legend Joey Dunlop and Michael Rutter.

“Jordan, Frank and Johnny came to my motorhome at Donington Park and everyone is on the same wavelength.

“We all want to win; we are all working hard, purely to win championships. I think also after my recent announcement with my career, my sole goal is to win the British Superbike Championship; we know that is the goal of the team too as they chase their tenth title. “To have a two year contract is cool, as in one sense you have security, but what makes it so cool is that we have consistency, something that I will be working hard on myself too.”

Irwin is now eager to move on from a challenging season this year, when grip issues with the harder compound Pirelli rear tyre caused problems at certain tracks.

“Hopefully, the stars align a little better as this year was a little bit tough at times, but we have put that behind us and are working hard towards 2025 and 2026 with Ducati,” Irwin added. “So I have to say thank you to the team and all of our sponsors for making it happen. To Jordan and Frank, to Johnny and the entire team let’s go and continue where we have left off the past two seasons.

“For me, I am looking within myself for more and seeing what I need to bring to the table in the search for that elusive first championship.”