British Superbikes- Silverstone: Career first treble for dominant Irwin
Honda Racing UK had plenty to celebrate after Glenn Irwin competed his first triple victory at Sliverstone in the third BSB race at Silverstone.
The 32 year old doubled his career win tally after working his way to the front from fourth on the grid. With clear track ahead he looked unbeatable, pulling out a lead which was regularly over a second to lead over the line in style.
The achievement is all the more important given his pre-season injuries had made it possible that he would miss the season opener. With a full set of wins Irwin’s 25th podium visit sees him leads the title standings after the opening weekend with a maximum 75 points.
Wiping away the disappointment of his race two crash, it was Rich Energy OMG Racing rider Bradley Ray who was closest to Irwin, keeping him honest up front, but not quite able to get close enough to put in a late claim for the race. Cutting the gap he crossed the line 0.864s behind for his eleventh rostrum visit, now with Yamaha.
- British Superbikes - Silverstone: Irwin makes it a double
- British Superbikes - Silverstone: Glenn Irwin dominates season opener
Andrew Irwin made it a great day for the family, challenging his brother for much of the race, the Synetiq BMW Mottorad pushed all the way after being passed by Ray on lap 22 to claim a superb third place and complete the podium.
Rory Skinner completed a solid start to his season with another fourth place after reaching the same position in race one and claiming a podium finish in race two. The FS-3 Racing rider lead briefly before being reeled in by the rapidly approaching Irwin, with Ray not afraid to put in a pass for the podium soon after.
The Kawasaki came out on top in the battle for the remaining positions after some strong racing from the twenty year old, fighting both Jason O’Halloran and Andrew Irwin as they pulled him into a battle for the final rostrum slot.
O’Halloran had found himself behind a huge out of seat wobble by Ray earlier, one of several which refocused the Yamaha rider over the course of the race. Sitting up caused the McAMS rider to drop back into the chasing pack where he ended up fifth.
Danny Buchan put in some huge moves and fastest laps to make up places in spades from his thirteenth place on the grid, he battled up to fourth before being late on the brakes on the penultimate lap saw him run on and down to sixth in a close fight in the main group.
The second FS-3 racing bike, with Lee Jackson on board, enjoyed a race long battle for position with Tommy Bridewell, with the pair often side by side, Bridewell coming off best for seventh despite the Oxford Products Ducati struggling for grip all weekend after making a self proclaimed 'bold change' for the race. That left Jackson eighth.
Peter Hickman was upbeat before the race, running better than expected at the Silverstone opener with constant alterations to find more performance on the FHO Racing BMW set-up helping him to ninth.
Kyle Ryde struggled for speed and dropped like a stone, at one point as low as eleventh he worked his way back to a top ten finish on the second Rich Energy OMG Racing entry.
A weekend of two halves for Rich Energy OMG Racing.
Day one saw the Yamaha team take over where McAMS Yamaha left off last season, and although neither Bradley Ray or Kyle Ryde won the first race they looked comfortable completing the podium, while the duos speed over a single lap saw them dominate qualifying and the front of the grid over all three races.
The duo looked to be on the brink of some much needed consistency on their move to Yamaha with testing form backed up in race one, but the remaining two races cast doubt over their ability to run at the front.
With treble winner Irwin expecting pressure from the Yamahas he could hear behind him in race one, it was Ray who fell under pressure from the eventual race two winner. Lessons learnt, he survived all of his bikes warning twitches in race three to come back for second after starting on pole.
This time round it was Ryde who was nowhere to be seen, his pace from the first two races deserting him as he scrapped to tenth.
Ryde remains second overall, with Irwin earning a 29 point safety net after just one round.
Outside the top ten Christian Iddon lost out to Ryde in the closing stage to finish eleventh for Buildbase Suzuki, with Tom Neave, the 2021 Superstock champion, looking to have already adjusted to Superbike riding in twelfth on the second Honda Racing UK entry.
Big names struggle again
Leon Haslam, the 2018 BSB champion, once again found the going tough but picked up points in 13th for Lee Hardy Racing. The former champion was upbeat enough with not many laps under his belt before the season started and an engine change already needed after a failure in race one, the rest of the weekend was treated almost as testing, with the hope to bounce back at Oulton Park.
WIth bigger woes, Tom Skyes, arriving from World SBK, has found the going tough - a best of twelfth in race one was not bettered with a DNF and 16th on Sunday with MCE Ducati.
His team-mate Josh Brookes was an even more lowly 18th in race three after placing 11th and 13th previously as the weekend worsened. Saying he and the team 'haven’t delivered’, citing the pace picking up at the front as they still try to fix the isses they arrived with after testing, and Silverstone not being a great track for Ducati, they too will hope to come back stronger at the next round.
The remaining points on offer went to Dan Linfoot in 14th for iForce BMW and Danny Kent in 15th for Buildbase Suzuki.
Luke Mossey , Liam Delves, David Johnson and Storm Stacey all failed to finish.
The paddock head to Oulton Park next, first for a further test before racing over 30th April- 2nd May.
