Irwin Hopeful Ahead Of Thruxton Thriller
The 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads to the fastest circuit in the country where Thruxton in Hampshire hosts the seventh round of the series this forthcoming weekend.
Hager PBM Ducati rider Glenn Irwin is currently second in the title race following a tough weekend at Brands Hatch last time out so the 34 year old from Carrickfergus, County Antrim is hoping to bounce back and to close the 19-point gap to leader Tommy Bridewell.
Irwin has six victories to his credit this year already and as the season heads into the final half, he will be looking to add to those successes, especially with the imminence of the Showdown which starts next month and sees enhanced points up for grabs in the final few races.
Glenn has had a couple of podium finishes at Thruxton in recent years, the last being in 2021 so he’ll be hoping for a good performance throughout the weekend for team owners Frank and Jordan Bird and to keep his and the team’s title bid firmly on track.
Glenn Irwin: “We arrive at Thruxton after a slightly difficult weekend at Brands Hatch, where we showed a lot of character as a team. The guys did an amazing job rebuilding the bike after I was taken out in the second race and it showed a great team spirit. We have been making good progress with the development work so we will continue that this weekend, but Thruxton always gives us some unique challenges on the Ducati and with the tyre option also. The plan is to have a solid weekend and rack up as many points as possible. I’m not sure what sort of results we can achieve but I’ll be fighting all the way. The team is working hard to give me a great bike and this is the final hurdle before we start the last four rounds at tracks which work well for us.”
Frank Bird, Joint Team Owner: “We can’t wait to get the second half of the season underway. After a tough weekend last time out at Brands Hatch where we showed so much potential only to fall foul of someone else’s mistake, next up is Thruxton. Thankfully, Glenn has recovered and spent some time at World Ducati Week in Italy recently, so he is sharp and both he and the team are ready to go as always. We have done a lot of work back at base to try and rectify the issues we had last year at Thruxton on the Ducati, so hopefully that will allow us to be back and challenging at the front.”
Pictures (courtesy of Double Red)
