Cycle News Staff | May 7, 2024
Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) made up for a lackluster start to the 2024 British Superbike Championship by sweeping round two of the series at Oulton Park over the May 4-6 weekend. Irwin and his Ducati held off Christian Iddon to the line by just 0.128 of a second to clinch the hat trick and snatch the early points lead.
In Saturday’s first race, Irwin claimed the win as he pushed to the front of the field on the opening laps, hitting the lead on lap three and then holding off Iddon to celebrate victory.
Iddon celebrated a strong second place, while the battle for third was raging between the OMG Grilla Yamaha Racing’s Kyle Ryde and Ryan Vickers, but a determined Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) was right there, as well.
Ryde charged into a podium position on lap 12 at Lodge corner and was able to bridge a minor advantage. However, Bridewell was in the hunt, and he claimed fourth place with five laps to go, pushing Vickers back into fifth.
Irwin again withstood pressure by Bridewell and Iddon to win race two. Bridewell had edged into second with a move on Iddon at Cascades corner on lap eight, but Iddon also had Danny Kent for company as the McAms Racing Yamaha rider pushed for a podium. Iddon, though, had the edge at the checkered flag to take his second podium finish of the season. Kent was fourth and Ryde fifth.
In Monday’s race three, Irwin held off Iddon to complete the perfect weekend. Vickers was just a half-second off the pace in third, while Kent and Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) completed the top five.
“Sunday’s race was very enjoyable and races like that, when you lead for so long, are the sweet ones,” Irwin said Monday. “We stayed focused for today, which we needed to do as we were constantly making changes to the bike, and we improved a number of key factors that we needed to win—resilience, determination, and precision being three.”
Irwin and company leave round one with 74 points, followed by Vickers with 68 points and Iddon with 67.
The weekend was marred by a nasty crash suffered by former American Racing Team Moto2 rider Rory Skinner, who crashed in the morning warm-up and had his helmet come off. Rory was briefly unconscious at the scene and was attended at the trackside by the BSB medical team before being transferred to the Circuit Medical Centre for further assessment and stabilization. He was conscious and talking to the medical team and his attending relative. He was then transferred to the Royal Stoke University Hospital for scans and further assessment.
Irwin’s perfect Oulton Park performance lifts him into the championship lead on 74 points, six points up on Ryde and seven points ahead of Iddon. CN
BSB RACE 1
- Glenn Irwin (Duc)
- Christian Iddon (Duc) +1.069
- Kyle Ryde (Yam) +2.069
- Tommy Bridewell (Hon) +2.588
- Ryan Vickers (Yam) +5.885
BSB RACE 2
- Glenn Irwin (Duc)
- Tommy Bridewell (Hon) +0.352
- Christian Iddon (Duc) +0.586
- Danny Kent (Yam) +2.396
- Kyle Ryde (Yam) +2.396
BSB RACE 3
- Glenn Irwin (Duc)
- Christian Iddon (Duc) +0.128
- Ryan Vickers (Yam) +0.511
- Danny Kent (Yam) +0.665
- Leon Haslam (BMW) +5.945