Glenn Irwin 'will come back stronger' in 2025 after finishing third in British Superbike title Showdown after Brands Hatch finale
Glenn Irwin says he will ‘come back stronger’ in 2025 after the Northern Ireland rider finished third in the British Superbike Championship following the final Showdown round at Brands Hatch.
Irwin’s slim chances of winning the title evaporated on Saturday when he crashed out in the wet opening race.
The Hager PBM Ducati rider finished 10th in the 12-lap Sprint race on Sunday before coming home in seventh in the final race of the 2024 season.
England’s Kyle Ryde (OMG Yamaha) won the title in dramatic style by a single point after narrowly holding off 2023 champion Tommy Bridewell in a breathless race that went down to the wire, with Ryde sealing a crucial win by 0.296s from his Honda Racing rival.
Carrickfergus man Irwin was 104 points further back in third, fending off Danny Kent (McAMS Yamaha) by nine points for a top-three finish in the championship.
Irwin, who won eight races this season, twice finished as the title runner-up in 2022 and 2023, losing out last year by half-a-point to his then PBM Ducati team-mate Bridewell.
“The first race this morning was so tough, I was on my hands and my knees in the motorhome thinking something was going really weird – I think I took one of those ocular migraines,” Irwin said.
“We weren’t sure, had I banged my head yesterday (when he crashed in the first race). I didn’t know what was going on really.
“It was a last-minute decision to even ride and it was only because third in the championship was at stake.
“But then as I chilled out this afternoon and turned the lights out and got rid of my phone, I felt good coming down for that race.
“I wanted to get to the front after how good we were on Friday, I thought maybe get to the front and let the guys fight for the championship. I had a great fight with my brother, rubbing paint at 150mph, but I got to the front and tried hard, Kyle got past and I knew I couldn’t fight back with him,” he added.
“I had a good fight with Tommy, my old sparring partner, it was enjoyable and to be honest I had one eye on the front of the race as third was pretty much secured.
“Hats off to Tommy and Kyle, they rode fantastic all season. We won one race less than Kyle but we didn’t have enough middle ground and podiums; we learn and go away and do our homework, and back to the school run for about four or five months now and come back stronger.”
Bridewell’s Honda team-mate Andrew Irwin finished sixth and ninth on Sunday as he ended the season in tenth.