Andrew Irwin hopes to finish the season on a high at Brands Hatch this weekend in the British Superbike Championship in his final race outing of the year.

Irwin is 12th in the championship with three races remaining at the Kent circuit, where he clinched a podium result earlier in the season.

The Northern Ireland rider missed most of last season through injury following a crash during a test at Knockhill in Scotland and was recently ruled out of the eighth round at Cadwell Park following a crash in practice.

Irwin claimed a trio of top-six finishes on his return at Donington Park and is now looking to fight at the front this weekend at Brands.

placeholder image — Honda Racing UK rider Andrew Irwin. Picture: David Yeomans Photography

“We have made a significant amount of progress as a team since we were last at Brands and I am confident that we will be able to showcase all of that hard work once more,” he said.

“Last time out at Donington we had a really solid weekend and put ourselves in a position to be fighting back towards the front of the BSB field, which is ultimately exactly where I want to be.

“We had a good weekend last time we were at Brands and this weekend will be the last time I get to race a bike this year, so I want to go out and deliver the best result that I can before we head into the winter.”

Irwin’s Honda team-mate, Tommy Bridewell, is fighting to retain his BSB title and goes into the weekend only four points behind OMG Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde, while his older brother Glenn is third in the standings for the Hager PBM Ducati team, 42 points further behind.

In the Supersport class, Dublin’s Jack Kennedy is gunning for an unprecedented fifth British title on the Honda Racing UK CBR600RR.

Kennedy holds a healthy lead of 21 points over Ben Currie with two races left this weekend.

“This year has flown by and I don’t want it to be over, but we’re already off to the last round of the season,” he said.

“I'm really excited to be going back to Brands Hatch, I’m feeling confident going back there with the recent run of form that we have shown and with how strong we were in the middle of the year when we did the double, beating Ben and the Ducati which wasn’t easy at all.

“I am going to approach the weekend like I do any other weekend, be as quick as I can and go full attack.

“We want to finish the season strong; l know the job that I have got to do to get the championship, but I will be going out there and racing the same as I do every weekend.

“I am anticipating a stronger showing from Luke [Stapleford] and the Triumph compared to the middle of the year as they have turned the power back up.

“I think there might be a few more in the mix too like at Donington but I am ready for whoever chooses to come to the party, and let’s hope that there is a party at the end of it.”