Glenn Irwin: “Tough” to lose North West 200 win streak by red flag

Glenn Irwin says losing his Superbike win streak at the North West 200 after Race 2 for the premier class was red flagged and not restarted on Saturday evening was “tough”.

Irwin wasn’t leading when the red flag came out, and felt he wasn’t able to ride as he wanted because of instability on his Ducati, which was made more difficult to manage by physical issues he's encountered in the first part of this year and which prevented him from exploiting his usual strength in braking in Race 1.

He was running in third place when the race was stopped for an oil spillage on the exit of Juniper Chicane, and admitted that, even though it was “tough” to lose his streak in a race that didn’t reach its regulation distance, he himself had been declared the victor in similar situations in the past.

“Felt super-strong in areas, but I don’t feel like I rode like me – I’m coming down to Metropole and I’m out of control in a straight line, out of control to Magherabuoy,” Irwin told BBC Sport NI after the Race 2 result was declared. 

“Don’t feel like we attacked anywhere, we were cruising through Juniper Chicane. 

“It is what it is, it’s another podium, 13 consecutive podiums on a Superbike here,  12 victories. 

“Of course, to lose a win streak in this manner is tough, but I also won races that were stopped after two laps – so it’s worked for me previously when perhaps my streak would’ve stopped much earlier. 

“You win some, you lose some in racing.”

Irwin had also had his reservations about racing at all, the Nitrous Competitions Ducati rider feeling the Panigale V4 R was especially difficult to handle in what were windy conditions on the north coast of Northern Ireland.

“I’ll be truthfully honest, after the first warm-up lap I said to Steve Plater, who’s like our rider liaison officer, the wind was bad out there,” said Irwin.

“If they had have called if after the race, I made the comment about the wind because I didn’t think it was so safe. I guess it’s a little bit bike-specific, we struggle so bad with stability in the wind; speaking to Brookesy [Josh Brookes] and that I can’t go in a straight line at all.”

He added: “Hand on my heart, I didn’t think conditions were that safe out there with the wind, I made that clear before, so other than feeling the pressure of having to go out and fight for a victory, deep down I’m glad we’re not going back out there today because that was my feeling. 

“The racer in you would love to have had a shot to make amends, that’s one of those.”

North West 200 event organiser Mervyn Whyte spoke after the race and explained that the race was not restarted due to time constraints, with the roads being required to open at 18:45.