Why results don’t tell the whole story of Glenn Irwin’s Donington Park BSB weekend

BSB race winner Glenn Irwin finished sixth in the last race at the Donington Park BSB, but the Northern Irish rider was able to find positives in the weekend.

On paper, it’s a step backwards compared to where he finished at round one at Oulton Park, where he was fifth in the last BSB race, but Irwin insists that the Donington round was an improvement, despite a number of issues throughout the weekend.

“This weekend was a big step forward,” he told Crash.net after Race 3 at Donington.

“Clearly we were really fast in pre-qualifying, and also qualifying, but then we had another electrical problem, unfortunately. 

“So, we could run in the 1m26s, felt incredible. But in Race 1 [we] realised with how I had the bike, which, to be honest, we had 160bhp in third gear – which is not a lie. 

“It’s okay when you’re on your own, you can be super-fast, but I didn’t realise how much power we had out. 

“Second race, we had like all the power back in, bike was a fucking monster. We finished eighth, but closing the gap – it was a short race, it was progressive. 

“In the last race, the guys worked really hard electronically – both [sides of the team]. We kind of came up with something. 

“I don’t like a bike as soft as Kyle’s [Ryde], we ride a bit different. Came up with something that was more in the middle and, for the first time this year, the power aspect of the bike was quite good, you could do small tweaks to it now.”

Having corrected the power output and characteristic of the bike, Irwin explained that he’s now able to focus on how to improve the chassis.

“Now I can think about the chassis,” he said. “I came back [after Race 3] and I said ‘I was losing the front at turn one all the time’. Coppice I was losing the front, we could improve that. 

“I think that was a better end to the weekend than Oulton Park because at Oulton we just chucked in a load of power and you just leave it all on the table in Race 3. 

“Now we understand the bike a bit more.”

He added that he still has some improvements to make in order to make it easier to race other riders.

“Still struggling to draw alongside other bikes,” Irwin explained, “I think that’s quite evident to see.

“But we’re able to make good lunges: Rory [Skinner], Danny [Kent], Christian [Iddon], all good riders. 

“Closed the gap to Leon [Haslam], just ran out of laps.”

During the North West 200, Irwin was open about a physical issue he was experiencing with his arm. This was causing arm pump, for which he is going to undergo surgery later this month.

“I have the arm pump operation on the 27th,” he said. “There’s a nerve problem there and it’s been causing arm pump because my arm hasn’t been working right, but I think that will be rectified, so that’s what held me up, probably, at the end of that race today [Race 3].”

He continued: “For me it [Donington] was much more positive than Oulton. I know Oulton was a fifth, but then we went to the North West and it was a disaster. 

“We had a win, but I couldn’t even hold onto the motorbike, it was a disaster in that aspect.

“Yes, we won, but I didn’t leave there any more confident, as such, I probably left there going ‘Holy fuck, we’re fucked’. 

The operation is not something Irwin is concerned about from a fitness perspective ahead of Knockhill.

“Yes, no stress,” he said. “A lot of guys have ridden after one week. I have week and 10 days on the Isle of Man, plus a further week. Three-week recovery, so it’ll be good.”