Glenn Irwin on cusp of sealing British Superbike Showdown spot at Silverstone

The Carrickfergus man was holding third place when McAMS Yamaha riders Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran crashed out on the penultimate lap.

The race was stopped and Irwin was confirmed as the winner from VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon, giving the Ulster rider a maximum 25-point haul and vital podium credits for the eight-rider Showdown.

Irwin is sixth in the standings with a 32-point buffer to reigning champion Josh Brookes, who is one place outside the Showdown top-eight.

“It was a chaotic race, but I wanted to be one of those not making lunges at the beginning,” Irwin said.

“I had to play it quite safe as I know the place in the Showdown is what we need this weekend.

“I saw with about eight laps to go Jason [O’Halloran] was starting to push and I did feel okay. But we also have a bad sector, which is sector three – Brooklands.

“I lose a little bit of traction front and rear and I start to understeer a lot, so we'll sit down and look and see if that’s something we can improve for tomorrow. But a win - what a way to kick-start this Showdown decider weekend.”

Sunday’s BSB races (1.30pm and 4.30pm) will determine the final Showdown line-up, but Irwin says he thrives under pressure and is ready to get ‘stuck in’.

“There is pressure; we put ourselves under the maximum, but I like that because I think that’s when I perform and I'm really happy with today,” he said.

“When the Fireblade is good like it is this weekend, I’m up to fight for the wins and podiums. I’ll be trying my best again tomorrow, I think now we can go really get stuck in. To lose a 32-point buffer in two races would be silly, so let's go get stuck in.”

His brother Andrew is no longer in contention for the Showdown after finishing 11th in Saturday’s opening race on the SYNETIQ BMW.