More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:
Irwin takes poignant first victory for Hager PBM Ducati in their new era
Glenn Irwin claimed the poignant first win for the Hager PBM Ducati in their new era as he pushed to the front of the field on the opening laps, hitting the lead on lap three and then held off Christian Iddon to celebrate victory.
At the start of the race, Ryan Vickers had launched off the line to lead the pack from Kyle Ryde, Glenn Irwin and Christian Iddon. The Hager PBM Ducati rider was determined, moving into second at Shell Oils corner on the opening lap, and then made his move on Vickers for the lead at Hizzys a lap later.
As Glenn Irwin held the lead, Iddon was on the move and he moved from fourth into second by lap four with a decisive pass on Vickers at Old Hall. Iddon then set his sights on his Ducati rival and the gap continued to change between the pair throughout the race, but despite a dramatic last lap moment, Irwin had the edge.
The win gives the PBM team an emotional first victory under the new leadership of Jordan and Frank Bird.
Iddon celebrated a strong second place, whilst the battle for third was raging between the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing pairing and a determined Tommy Bridewell. Ryde charged into a podium position on lap 12 at Lodge 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.
Vickers and Danny Kent scrapped for fifth with the pair trading places until the finish line, with Vickers holding the advantage from his McAMS Racing Yamaha rival by 0.093s at the chequered flag.
Jason O’Halloran held off the earlier challenges from Rory Skinner to take seventh with Josh Brookes and Leon Haslam completing the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race 1 result:
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati)
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.069s
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +2.069s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +2.588s
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +5.885s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +5.978s
- Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +8.150s
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad) +10.501s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +12.726s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) +12.894s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 47
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 44
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 40
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 38
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 37
- Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 25
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) 23
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 21
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad) 19
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) 19
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Glenn Irwin
Hager PBM Ducati
“I got quite a good launch off the line, as did Kyle from pole and Ryan. I knew Ryan looked like he had really good pace from the Free Practice runs, so I was quite eager to have a look at him.
“I managed to get Kyle quite easily out of Turn three, the new tarmac is helping the Ducati and its weaknesses of edge grip because its so grippy round Cascades that we can now match the Yamahas in that corner and use our speed.
“Ryan was more difficult to pass. They clearly were running two different set-ups in power because his bike was really fast, to be truthfully honest, kind of surprising. I obviously passed him in Knickerbrook which you wouldn’t pass a Yamaha usually in there and that was more for a bit of fun, it was on lap one, that’s all that was. And then you think, ‘oh am I showing my hand too early’ but it was a bit of craic and yeah we enjoyed the race.
“Fair play to Iddo, it’s nice to see him competitive again. I said in the Eurosport interview, I think their bike was not the same spec as ours last year in terms of some chassis components. They now have that and he was really, really strong. So hats off to him, its always good to be competitive after a year or so when you haven’t been.
“I’m happy for other people as well but just grateful to represent this amazing team. Thanks to Hager for stepping up and all the other team sponsors. First monkey off my back this year and we can go and have another two cracks at it tomorrow.”
