Glenn Irwin “grateful” for Ducati BSB return: “I never need more motivation, but…”

After spending the second half of the 2025 BSB season without the feeling that he had the potential to win races, Glenn Irwin is “grateful” to be returning to Ducati machinery for 2026.

With the PBM Ducati team, Irwin was able to challenge for the BSB title in both 2023 and 2024, and in 2025 he was on the podium four times in the opening five races before a practice crash at Snetterton put him on the sidelines and ultimately resulted in a switch to the Nitrous Competitions Yamaha team.

The Yamaha R1 was not a bike that Irwin was ever able to extract as much potential from as the likes of Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde, who both had much more experience on the bike than the Northern Irishman. As a result, moving back to Ducati in 2026 is something that offers Irwin an “opportunity”, he feels.

“It’s quite timely,” Irwin said of the move to Ducati, speaking on the Ducati stage to Niall Mackenzie at Motorcycle Live.

“I keep calling last year a tough season, but I have to remind myself how the beginning of the year was going. 

“So, to come back with a manufacturer like Ducati, a manufacturer I’ve had so much success with, with the V-twin, the V4.

“That feeling like you weren’t turning up to win races is all gone. We’re back, and it fills me with determination. 

“I never really need more motivation, but there’s certainly extra now. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and to be back.”

Although Irwin’s time with Ducati in 2025 ultimately ended with a crash in Snetterton that put him out for several races before moving to Nitrous Competitions, he also had strong pace on the Panigale during the opening races of the season that he is able to reflect positively on.

“My last race on a Ducati was Race 3 at Donington Park, and I managed to pull Brad Ray in by three seconds and doing lap times that were very, very competitive in WorldSBK,” he said.

“That’s a good feeling, and a good memory. And that’s what is burning inside me now that we’re back.”

“Excited” for 2026 bike

While it is a return to Ducati in 2026 for Irwin, it’s a change to a new manufacturer for the Nitrous Competitions team, which has run Yamahas since 2022, and it’s a change that comes when Ducati is introducing a new Panigale V4 R.

This is something that Irwin is looking forward to, though, and an adaptation he thinks he and the staff that came with him from PBM to Nitrous Competitions during 2025 can help the team with in 2026.

“Obviously, there’s the new V4 R,” he said. “I’m so excited to get on it. And a great plan for pre-season as I have a Panigale V4 S that I’m going to utilise in Spain for a few months, and to work on my riding technique. 

“We have everything lined up to go back to where we were before, maybe even stronger.”

He added: “There were many factors when I split with PBM. A couple of my staff, my crew chief and my electronic engineer who were a big part of the PBM picture, they were in a similar situation to me. 

“They had to adapt to the Yamaha, to the Bitubo suspension, but now we’re back together with a bike, and a brand that we all know. 

“And that will not only help me, but also help the entire Nitrous Competitions team because these guys know the Ducati very, very well, and they both want British Superbike Championships as well.”