Glenn Irwin outlines why he's taking ‘huge confidence' into British Superbike round at Snetterton
He has three runner-up finishes under his belt so far and a third place after the first two rounds of the Championship, but now the Carrickfergus man is looking for victories at a circuit where he has triumphed previously on both Ducati and Honda machinery.
Irwin, who is 12 points behind Raceways Yamaha rider Bradley Ray ahead of the opening race of the weekend on Saturday (4pm), said: 'Looking ahead to Snetterton, obviously this year, we have started really, really strong and have been consistent across the board at Oulton Park and Donington Park.
'What was pleasing at Donington was the fact that it was a marked improvement from last year as we were nowhere near the pace of the OMG package last year of Kyle (Ryde) and Ryan (Vickers), but this year, we managed to be ahead.
'Brad won the race, I think we showed good pace to reel him in of over two seconds at a track where last year, we really struggled to stay in the top four or five. So, we take huge confidence from that and it bodes well going forward.'
Irwin was eighth fastest on the combined free practice time sheets yesterday on the Ducati. His brother and Honda Racing rider Andrew was 16th with Scott Swann (Send My Bag/IWR Honda) one place behind in 17th.
Irwin did the double at Snetterton in the summer of 2024 and the 35-year-old would love a repeat to close the deficit to former champion Ray at the top of the Championship.
'Snetterton has been a track where the bike has always worked well and I have had a lot of success on both Honda and Ducati, so we are fully focused on going and winning races,' said Irwin.
'That being said, it's a long Championship, so we just need to keep our foot on the gas, keep applying pressure and making the most of the job we have.
'And by that I mean, I think making the most of it will be race victories this weekend, the team are working great, we have had some downtime and now we are coming back for race victories.'
Meanwhile, the Fifth Round of the SBT Ireland Ulster Superbike Championship takes place on Saturday at Kirkistown in Co Down, promoted by the Hillsborough and Mid Antrim clubs.
Lisburn's Carl Phillips was a double winner at Kirkistown two weeks previously in wet and dry conditions and moved to the top of the points standings, taking over from McAdoo Kawasaki's Korie McGreevy, who was ruled out after a crash in qualifying.
Phillips is a former champion having won the title in 2019 and is making his return to racing this year for the first time since 2022.
His opposition includes reigning champion Jonny Campbell, who was second in both races at Kirkistown in the previous round, plus Ryan Gibson and Ross Irwin.
In the Supersport races, Graeme Irwin will be out to build on an impressive double on the Magic Bullet Ducati.
It remains to be seen if reigning Ulster Supersport champion McGreevy has recovered sufficiently to race following his crash 14 days prior.
Admission is £15 with Under-16s free.
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