Andrewleadsthewayasirwin brothersdominateatdonington
WHAT an absolute stunning weekend of racing during the opening British Superbike championship meeting at Donington Park where the Irwin brothers from Carrick were in spectacular form on their Honda Racing Team all-new Fireblade machines.
Andrew won the opening two Superbike races and took second in race three while older brother Glenn was right on the pace, picking up second position in the opening races and a third in the final outing yesterday.
Andrew, voted rider of the meeting, said: “We have kept improving the new Honda throughout our testing programme, but if you had told me on Friday morning that I would get two wins and a second, I’d have bitten your arm off.
“I suppose the first thing in racing, if you ask anybody, would be to beat your team mate, who in my case just happens to be my brother.”
However, in the final race Andrew and Josh Brookes touched at 130mph and the Australian crashed out, lucky to emerge uninjured and although credited with second in the race Andrew will start the next BSB rsce from the back of the grid after a stewards investigation of the incident stripped him of the position.
Nine months since the last BSB races, the packed grids saw some breathtaking action with no quarter asked or given with the 22 laps of each outing thrilling everyone watching at home.
However, it was all about the Carrickfergus duo with Glenn leading into the final chicane on the final lap of race one only for Andrew, with some demon braking who nipped inside his brother to win by 0.119 seconds. The Vison Track Ducatis of Josh Brookes and Christian Iddon were third and fourth right in the Irwins wheel tracks.
Race two and the final chicane again saw Andrew stuffing his Honda underneath Glenn on the last lap, forcing Glenn wide and outside track limits, but still officially in second with a disgruntled Jason O’halloran third.
Mid-race, Andrew hit the back of Glenn at the ultra-fast Craner Curves but neither flinched, then at Coppice Glenn, still in the lead on the last lap, Andrew made a slight mistake and the pair were elbow to elbow as they raced towards the chicane.
Race three saw Andrew start from seventh on the grid and Glenn from 12th, based on the fastest laps from race two.
Frantic action saw Tommy Bridewell disappear into the distance, probably thinking he was well out of the battle for second between Andrew, Glenn, Brookes, Iddon and O’halloran that saw Andrew second and Glenn third.
It was heart-stopping action with Andrew saying: “To be honest I was right alongside, maybe a fraction ahead of Josh after getting better drive out of Redgate when we touched. I’m sorry he went down.”
Glenn said: “in that last race I thought second was going to be like a win until Andrew beat me into the chicane. From 12th on the grid to third is good. Fair play to Andrew, he leads the championship and I’m second – not a bad weekend.”
Race 2: 1 Andrew Irwin (Gbr) Honda 29mins 06.570secs, 2 Glenn Irwin (Gbr) Honda
29:06.764, 3 Jason O’halloran (Aus) Yamaha 29:06.858, 4 Kyle Ryde (Gbr) Suzuki
29:07.605 0.747, 5 Danny Buchan (Gbr) Kawasaki 29:07.981, 6 Josh Brookes (Aus)
Ducati 29:10.127, 7 Tarran Mackenzie (Gbr) Yamaha 29:10.387, 8 Christian Iddon (Gbr) Ducati 29:10.726, 9 Tommy Bridewell (Gbr) Ducati 29:12.007, 10 Hector Barbera (Spa) BMW 29:12.327
Race 3: 1 Tommy Bridewell (Gbr) Ducati 28mins 58.878secs, 2 Andrew Irwin (Gbr) Honda 29:00.942, 3 Glenn Irwin (Gbr) Honda 29:01.035, 4 Jason O’halloran (Aus) Yamaha 29:01.281, 5 Christian Iddon (Gbr) Ducati 29:05.388, 6 Danny Buchan (Gbr) Kawasaki 29:07.535, 7 Tarran Mackenzie (Gbr) Yamaha 29:07.801, 8 Kyle Ryde (Gbr)
Double success: Andrew Irwin in Donington action yesterday
Suzuki 29:07.945, 9 Ryan Vickers (Gbr) Kawasaki 29:12.143, 10 Lee Jackson (Gbr) Kawasaki 29:13.30
Champions Standings:
Riders: 1 Andrew Irwin (Gbr) Honda 50pts, 2 Glenn Irwin (Gbr) Honda 40, 3 Josh Brookes (Aus) Ducati 26, 4 Jason O’halloran (Aus) 24, 5 Christian Iddon (Gbr) Ducati 21, 6 Tommy Bridewell (Gbr) Ducati 18, 7 Tarran Mackenzie (Gbr) Yamaha 18, 8 Kyle Ryde (Gbr) Suzuki 13, 9 Ryan Vickers (Gbr) Kawasaki 12, 10 Danny Buchan (Gbr) Kawasaki 11
Manufacturers: 1 Honda 50pts, 2 Ducati 26, 3 Yamaha 25, 4 Kawasaki 18, 5 BMW 16, 6 Suzuki 13