Irwin to replace Haslam
Ulsterman called to replace series leader at Bournemouth Kawasaki
Glenn Irwin will replace Leon Haslam in the Bournemouth Kawasaki team for the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike season. The Northern Irishman will leave the Be Wiser Ducati squad at the end of this year and move to the factory-backed Kawasaki outfit in place of Haslam, who heads back to the World Championship with Kawasaki next season.
With Haslam looking set to leave BSB as champion, Irwin has big boots to fill as Bournemouth Kawasaki’s number one rider but he feels the change will bring about the best in him ahead of one of BSB’s most open years yet.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my future over recent weeks and felt that in order for me to go to the next level a change was required,” Irwin told MCN.
“We haven’t stopped moving forward but I think I perhaps went a bit stale and a change could be the thing to help. This opportunity with the factory-backed Kawasaki team, a proven team that looks set to win the title this year, was just too good to turn down. This is my opportunity to win the championship.”
2019 will mark the first time Irwin starts a season as a number one rider, but he has plenty of experience of the pressure the role brings after Shane Byrne was ruled out through injury earlier this year.
“We started this year as a team with Shakey out for the title and my goal was to make the Showdown, win some races and back him up
– he was the clear number one. When he got injured that changed things massively and I do feel I did step up. We started challenging for race wins and became a threat in qualifying, taking pole positions but it’s a strange feeling to go from solid number two rider to being expected to be fighting for the title with no preparation!
“It’s certainly been good practice being under pressure and I feel that with a full winter preparing for a title challenge, knowing I’ll be the number one rider and that the team is focused around me fighting for the title, is such a good chance.” Irwin will get his first taste of the ZX-10RR he’ll campaign next year in a test in Spain during November, with Kawasaki’s extensive testing programme another reason he was so keen to make the move.
“To test the bike you’ll be riding the next year before you have some time off in the winter is class, it means when I switch off during the winter I’m not going into the unknown as I’ve had those days on the bike. We’ve got a lot of testing planned for the New Year too and that is critical.
“I think the bike will suit me. An inline-four always suited my style of riding. I’ve had to work really hard over the years to adapt to the Ducati, which is important as it shows I can be versatile but I do think we haven’t seen Glenn Irwin’s full potential in BSB. I’ve been battling for wins but I know I haven’t quite hit my level just yet. I feel I can show that with Kawasaki and the championship is wide open next year – it’s definitely for the taking!”