Glenn Irwin loses British Superbike title lead after crash at Donington Park as brother Andrew toasts bittersweet success

The Honda Racing rider was leading brother and team-mate Andrew when he slid off at Goddards in the damp conditions, turning the title race on its head.

Andrew, a double winner at the shorter National circuit at Donington at the first round in August, held off VisionTrack Ducati riders Christian Iddon and Josh Brookes to secure a bittersweet victory for the official Honda team and his fourth career BSB success.

Iddon was 1.8 seconds down in second place with Australian rider Brookes under a second further back as he rounded out the rostrum places for Paul Bird’s team.

Race winner Irwin said: “It’s been a rollercoaster season and it started so good here but went drastically downhill after that.

“It’s nice to win again and Honda have kept believing in me. Once Glenn went down I had to control the race and it was hard to know how hard to push, but we kept it upright for 15 laps and around here in those conditions it’s quite difficult,” he added.

“It’s maybe bittersweet for Glenn that I won but it’s also good for him because it’s five extra points that his rivals didn’t get.”

The dramatic turn of events means that Iddon now leads Brookes by only two points, with Jason O’Halloran – 14th in race one – six points further adrift in third, tied on points with Glenn Irwin, who led the championship by two points coming into the weekend.

Dublin’s Jack Kennedy had a strong ride to seventh on the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki, while Keith Farmer finished in 13th on the Buildbase Suzuki as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury.

BSB rookie Graeme Irwin was 16th on the Team 64 Motorsport Kawasaki.

Saturday’s scheduled British Superbike race was carried over to Sunday due to poor weather conditions at the Leicestershire track, setting up a hectic triple-header.

Race two is scheduled for 2.15pm with the third race at 4.30pm.

Donington Park is hosting the penultimate round of the reduced championship, which only started in August as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The final round takes place at Brands Hatch from October 16-18.

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