Victorious Glenn Irwin hails 'amazing weekend' at Snetterton as Honda rider extends British Superbike title lead after first win of season

Irwin, who finished fourth in Saturday’s opening race before improving to second place behind VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes in race two, wrapped up a deserved win by 1.1 seconds from Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Ducati), who nipped past Saturday’s race winner Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) at the final chicane to snatch the runner-up spot on the last lap.

With the first two rounds of the revamped 2020 season complete, Irwin now leads the championship by 23 points from Bridewell going into round three at Silverstone National (September 4-6).

“It’s been a perfect weekend,” Irwin admitted. “I wasn’t disappointed in race two because we were very fortunate to make it to the line (with Irwin’s Honda running out of fuel) and it could have been a lot worse if the fuel had been a little bit lower.

“Did I think I could win race three with the Ducatis on the front row? Probably not,” added Irwin, who started from the third row of the grid in ninth position.

“But I had a good start, good aggression but nothing too mental; more precision really with how I was trying to ride. I knew that the pace with Tommy (Bridewell) and Christian (Iddon) wasn’t so strong and when I got in front, the lap time dropped.

“I tried to ride as hard as I could and the new Fireblade has been amazing. It steers from the rear for me and it’s so, so good. I could make the bike do what I wanted this weekend but we won’t get carried away.”

Behind the top three, Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki), Brookes and Tarran Mackenzie completed the top six.

Andrew Irwin finished the race in eighth place after the Honda Racing rider lost his front-row start for race three after being hit with a three-place grid penalty.

The sanction was imposed on the Donington Park double winner following an incident with RAF Reserves Kawasaki rider Ryan Vickers in race two, when Irwin attempted a pass around the outside and both riders crashed out.

It was a tough weekend for Irwin, who also crashed out of the first race on lap one on Saturday, bringing out the Safety Car.

Speaking before the start of race three, Irwin said: “I’ve been quite good when I’ve been able to get out on my own and think I showed that in the race before (race two).

“If I can get a good start, be sensible and be smart, there’s no reason why we can’t do a good job. Glenn’s done a really good job this weekend and has shown that the bike is not just a one-track pony.

“It’s been a bit of a disaster so far, but we have to keep smiling, keep going and we have to keep the motivation to try and keep fighting.”

Irwin was forced to start Saturday’s race from the rear of the grid after being penalised for an incident with Brookes in race three at Donington, with the Australian crashing out after contact was made. The Ulster rider was also excluded from the result after taking the chequered flag in second place.

New VisionTrack Ducati signing Iddon won Saturday’s race by 1.3 seconds from team-mate Brookes, with Bridewell taking third ahead of championship leader Irwin.

Jack Kennedy finished 17th in race one on the Santander Salt TAG Yamaha after running off the track on lap one. The 2019 British Supersport champion was 13th in race two but retired from race three.

BSB rookie Graeme Irwin was 20th in race one but crashed out of race three on Sunday, while Brian McCormack finished 22nd on Saturday and 20th in Sunday’s two races.

Keith Farmer faces a spell out of action after the Buildbase Suzuki rider underwent surgery for a shoulder injury on Saturday after his crash in qualifying at Donington Park.

In the British Supersport Championship, top road racer Lee Johnston clinched a brace of rostrum finishes on the Ashcourt Racing Yamaha.

Johnston took third place in the Sprint race on Saturday behind Rory Skinner and Harry Truelove.

The Fermanagh man, now based in Halifax, was holding second place in Sunday’s feature race behind Skinner when he ran off the track following a mistake.

However, Johnston managed to return to the track and finished the race in third place behind Bradley Perrie.

“I hit a false neutral going down the back straight so it was a little bit frustrating because I made a slight mistake about two laps before that, when I ran wide slightly and probably lost about 0.8s, but I made the gap back again.

“I sort of knew then that I had the pace to definitely have a go, so slightly frustrated, but to be honest to be on the podium again is good for an old washed up road racer like me.”

GP2 race winner Alastair Seeley was disqualified on Saturday following a post-race technical inspection. The 40-year-old was 12th overall in race two and fourth in the GP2 class, which was won by Mason Law.

Korie McGreevy finished seventh and fifth on his Century Yamaha, while Ross Patterson was ninth and eighth. Richard Kerr was 14th and 16th in the two races and Scott Swann was 22nd and 20th.

In the National Superstock 1000 race, David Allingham finished 15th on the InCompetition Aprilia. The race was won by Honda Racing’s Tom Neave, whose team-mate, Davey Todd, was seventh. Fellow Isle of Man TT racer Ian Hutchinson crossed the line in 12th place on the Edwards 1902 BMW while Dean Harrison was 21st on his own Kawasaki.

Rhys Irwin finished on the rostrum in the Superstock 600 race in third place with Simon Reid taking sixth ahead of Adam McLean. Sam Laffins and Eugene McManus were 11th and 12th respectively.

Casey O’Gorman from Portlaoise, who is now based in London, won the second British Talent Cup race in a blanket finish with Eddie O’Shea and Harvey Claridge, with the trio separated by only 0.051s.

Cameron Dawson finished fifth in the first Junior Supersport race on the KMR Kawasaki.

* A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. To subscribe, click here.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor