Glenn Irwin hopeful for Oulton Park BSB after Brands Hatch post-injury uncertainty

After a tough season opener at Oulton Park, returning there this weekend gives Glenn Irwin a chance to show how much progress he has made in the past three months.

Irwin’s season to-date has been underwhelming by his standards from a results perspective, with only one podium to his name after five rounds.

The reality behind the numbers is that Irwin struggled with technical problems through the first part of the season, and when he was finding some form after the break he was injured at Snetterton.

Returning at Brands Hatch two weeks after the Snetterton crash saw Irwin crack the top-five in the final race, but he was unsure if he’d even be able to ride at the fifth round before the weekend.

“Brands Hatch was a good weekend,” said Irwin, speaking to BritishSuperbike.com ahead of the Oulton Park BSB.

“To start with I didn’t know if I would even be riding there after the crash at Snetterton. So, we obviously arrived knowing it wasn’t going to be an easy weekend as it was the first time back on the bike. 

“In the end, on the bike it was not so bad; to start with it was tough with a bit of pain, but as soon as the pace and adrenaline started to come, I felt good.

“In qualifying I was quite happy with it, I felt like I had good speed to do a lap that was probably realistic for fourth completely on my own, but I couldn’t quite piece it all together over every corner, but I was feeling good on the bike.

“Saturday we struggled a little bit with position, maybe due to my injury, on the bike, so on Sunday, we made some changes with the bar heights et cetera, and also changed the throttle on the bike, which made things easier for me.

“I was really pleased with Race 3 and we had consistent pace to finish fifth and to come through, passing some good riders as well. 

“For sure, I think we could have fought with Leon [Haslam] with better earlier lap pace and that is something for me to work on, but from mid-race on we seemed to be quite strong.”

Looking to Oulton Park, Irwin added that he is looking forward to riding there as he feels that he and the Nitrous Competitions team have made steps with the Ducati since the opening round.

“Oulton Park is somewhere where we actually did have a really good end to the weekend at round one and we were probably nowhere [compared] to where we are with the bike now, so I am looking forward to going back and much more in-tune with everything.

“I think the guys have the bike in a good window and it is a track that I have always gone well at, so there is no doubt that we can hopefully be targeting a return to the podium again, just like Knockhill. 

“So, that is the plan for Oulton Park, three solid results like we had at Brands Hatch, but even more solid and a return to the podium.

“The pace is incredible right now, Kyle [Ryde] is riding the best he has ever rode, probably Max [Cook] as well, and Scott [Redding] has shown his form as well with victory in the last race at Brands. 

“So anyone wanting to break into the podium needs to be on their ‘A-game’, and I feel that we are getting closer to bringing that every week.”