NW200: Glenn Irwin all-in for Superbike glory after record six wins in a row

The Ulster rider arrived in Portrush as the leader of the British Superbike Championship following his second win of the season on the BeerMonster Ducati in race three at Oulton Park on bank holiday Monday.

Irwin has gelled rapidly with the Panigale V4R after reuniting with Paul Bird’s team for 2023 following three seasons on the Honda Racing Fireblade.

He bagged his second NW200 Superbike double 12 months ago four years after winning both races on a PBM Ducati in 2018, and Irwin is aiming to repeat the feat on Saturday.

The 33-year-old is only entered in the Superbike showdowns this year and the pre-race favourite has set his sights firmly on winning both to move him within one victory of equalling the all-time record of nine wins in the feature class held jointly by road racing legend Joey Dunlop and England’s Michael Rutter.

Last year, Irwin was hounded in the first Superbike race by Davey Todd on the Milenco by Padgett’s Honda, securing his fifth win by 0.3 seconds at the finish.

His job was made slightly easier in the second race after a number of leading contenders, including Todd and Peter Hickman, were unable to compete due to safety concerns after issues with a batch of Dunlop rear slick Superbike tyres.

Irwin, though, points out that he set a hotter pace in the final race and achieved the quickest personal ideal lap time around the 8.9-mile course, where FHO Racing BMW’s Hickman holds the outright lap record.

Hickman set the new benchmark at 124.799mph in the opening race after rejoining the race when he overshot on the first lap at University, clawing his way back into top-six contention before his rear tyre came apart in a frightening moment on the fast run to Coleraine.

Irwin said: “Last year, Davey gave me a great race but I did have a problem with the bike, which wasn’t really documented [rear brake issue], and I believe that is why he stayed with me. But he gave me a great race nevertheless.

“The grid might have looked different for the second race because of the riders missing due to the problem with the Dunlop tyres, but I had a faster race in that one.

“Peter Hickman likes to say he is the fastest man around the North West and he was asked recently can he win, and his answer was that he’s the fastest man.

“But when you’ve overshot University on lap one and you’re coming behind a freight train of riders, it’s pretty easy to do the fastest ever lap because you’re in a tunnel for the slipstream.

“I led every single lap of the last race and my ideal lap time was a 4’18.4s, and that was without a single slipstream anywhere. If you get a slipstream going from Mill Road to University, you’ll get two seconds, and if you get it back to Portrush, you’ll find another second or second and a half,” he added.

“I’m very analytical and when you look at the sectors, I’m doing it all on my own and I’m hitting the wind – no one is helping me, there’s no target in front of me.

“Peter Hickman may have the outright lap record with the help of slipstream, but I’ve the fastest ever ideal lap time with no slipstream and that means more – and I’ve won six in a row!”

The Carrickfergus man revealed he may not ride the very latest specification Ducati V4R at the North West, although he doesn’t foresee that as a big disadvantage.

“I rode the new bike at Silverstone for the first time, as in the race weekend, because the testing was wet and we didn’t do much,” Irwin said.

“Then at Oulton Park I rode the older bike again [in a test]. I feel the new bike is a big step forward from last year but I’m actually going to ride the older bike at the North West.

“When I say ‘old bike’ it means I’m using the later swinging arm and basically the older engine, so it’s a bit more of a monster and a bit harder to ride.

“But when you go to the North West 200, it’s long gearing and you’re upright pretty much everywhere, so it’s not going to be so much of a problem.”

Irwin faces formidable opposition in his bid to add to his Superbike success, with Hickman, Todd, Michael Dunlop (Hawk Racing Honda), Dean Harrison (DAO Kawasaki), Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW) and 27-time NW200 winner Alastair Seeley (Milwaukee BMW) among the top contenders lining up against him.

However, the level of competition is nothing new at the North West and Irwin will go about his business in the same methodical way that has served him so well since he made his debut in 2015.

“The intentions are to go out and win at the North West but again, but it’s never a case of turning up on Tuesday and going for it straight off,” said Irwin.

“It’s different at the North West, you have to go and suss it out and see what the bike is doing. When you’re at a road race you need to get your brain dialled in first because I haven’t done this for a year.

“If it feels good, then we’ll go out and try and win two races but if it’s not happening, then it’s just not happening because you can’t force it.”