Glenn Irwin after Yamaha BSB debut: “I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus!”
Irwin returned to racing at Thruxton after injury layoff
Glenn Irwin says he feels “like I’ve been hit by a bus” following his return from injury to British Superbikes at Thruxton, where he also made his debut the renamed Nitrous Competitions Racing.
The 2023 title runner-up crashed heavily during the Snetterton round in June and had to have surgery on a pelvic injury.
A disagreement with his former Paul Bird Motorsport team on when he felt he was fit enough to return led to both parties mutually splitting last week.
Irwin subsequently signed with reigning champion team OMG Racing (who will now run under the Nitrous Racing banner), swapping Ducati machinery for Yamaha for the rest of the 2025 season.
After being passed fit by BSB’s medical team prior to the Thruxton round, Irwin managed a trio of top 20 results, with a 16th in Race 1, 15th in Race 2 and 17th in Race 3.
Glenn Irwin explains physicall toll of BSB return
Irwin said in a post on his Instagram that he didn’t experience any pain with his injury, but branded the weekend “physically tough”.
“We are back racing which is the big positive, adapting to a new bike, new time and new components,” he wrote.
“Six weeks ago after I had my pelvic surgery I would never have believed I would have been racing at Thruxton.
“But as the days got on I knew this healing journey was going to surprise us all, including myself!
“The weekend was tough physically; zero pain around my injury but returning to racing, getting comfortable on a new bike, you end up compensating with other areas and today I feel like I have been hit by a bus!
“The last race I enjoyed a lot, for the first 15 laps my pace was strong, I thought we had something to get to the top 10 but my front tyre had dropped off a cliff in the final few laps.
“Before that there was lots of hard racing amongst everyone and it was nice to get the feeling of passing again!”
Irwin will be able to build on the momentum from his Thruxton comeback at the end of August for the seventh round of the season at Cadwell Park.
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