A maiden British Superbike title for Glenn Irwin might be a long shot with one round of the championship to go, but the Ulster rider says he will keep fighting until the end.

Irwin won the second race at the penultimate Showdown round on Sunday at Donington Park and finished off the weekend with fourth.

The Hager PBM Ducati rider also claimed a podium in third in Saturday’s races behind main title contenders Kyle Ryde and reigning champion Tommy Bridewell.

Ryde clinched a double on the OMG Yamaha to replace Bridewell at the top of the table and will take a narrow four-point lead into the finale at Brands Hatch from October 11-13.

placeholder image — Glenn Irwin celebrates his British Superbike victory at Donington Park with runner-up Tommy Bridewell (left) and Kyle Ryde. Picture: David Yeomans Photography

Irwin, who has finished as the championship runner-up for the past two seasons – including agonisingly missing out last year by a half-a-point to his then PBM Ducati team-mate Bridewell – is 46 points behind Ryde.

The 34-year-old is chasing his dream of becoming Northern Ireland’s first British Superbike champion and will need a large slice of luck on his side if he’s to achieve his objective next month.

However, with an increased number of 35 points available for a win in the Showdown decider, he still retains an outside chance with three races of the 2024 series remaining.

Irwin admits the title is out of his hands but he is ready for one final push at Brands Hatch.

Reflecting on his eighth victory of the season, he said: “It feels great. Yesterday [Saturday] I felt was one of the best rides I’ve had but it was for a third.

“I’ve been working on my daily practice to bring the right kind of mindset into the day ahead, whether that be at racing or at home, and I applied a lot of that.

“I had a game plan and executed it, although you’re never fully sure of what’s going to go on in a race but you can adapt to it throughout the race and try to counter.

“What pleases me is the changes the team made for warm-up and then we kind of halfway-housed them for the race and I felt the guys did a great job.

“We’ll keep fighting, winning races, enjoying ourselves and whatever comes at the end of the year will come.”