Glenn Irwin becomes fifth different winner in 2020 to claim Monster Energy Race of Aces Trophy
Glenn Irwin became the fifth different winner in the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton, and in doing so added his name to an illustrious list of previous winners by claiming the Monster Energy Race of Aces trophy.
Following Christian Iddon’s first Bennetts BSB race win yesterday in Norfolk, Round 5 was another trademark dogfight for victory. At the start of the race, Glenn Irwin launched off the pole position into the lead with Josh Brookes, Tommy Bridewell, Iddon and Bradley Ray all at the sharp end.
Brookes had soon taken the lead from his Honda Racing rival and was then holding off a hard-charging Glenn Irwin with Bridewell and Lee Jackson making up the leading quartet who were battling for the podium positions.
Glenn Irwin made a move on Brookes for the lead but he couldn’t quite make it stick, and then a problem towards the end of the race meant he had to settle for second and the valuable championship points, as VisionTrack Ducati celebrated their second victory of the weekend.
Bridewell had been on the attack too, but he claimed third place and another podium finish for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team as Jackson scored his best result of the season in fourth place, with Iddon in fifth.
Andrew Irwin had been carving his way through the field after his back row start, but the Honda Racing rider was involved in an incident with Ryan Vickers on lap 13 at Murrays, which saw both riders crash out of the race.
Race Direction penalised Andrew Irwin with a drop of three grid positions for the final race of the weekend at Snetterton and enabled two of the three suspended penalty points that were imposed on 9 August 2020. No appeal was lodged.
The fight for the Monster Energy Race of Aces Trophy went down to the final race of the weekend and when the race got underway it was Iddon who got the leap off the pole position, ahead of his VisionTrack Ducati teammate Brookes and Bridewell on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati.
The Ducati trio were battling at the front with the order changing on lap four as Bridewell took the lead ahead of Brookes and Iddon when the trio went three deep into Wilsons. Meanwhile as they battled for the advantage, Glenn Irwin had been making his way up the order; he had been running seventh after the opening lap, but he was soon fighting with his brother Andrew for fourth place on track.
Glenn Irwin soon had made a move on his brother at Agostini on lap five, but Andrew was ready to fight back and a lap later regained the position at Riches.
As the Honda Racing pairing fought it out for fourth place, the VisionTrack Ducati teammates were also trading blows for positions with Iddon moving ahead of Brookes into Wilson on lap six. The Australian was then coming under attack from Glenn Irwin, who had managed to get the better of his brother.
Glenn Irwin made his move on Brookes and then had Bridewell and Iddon ahead of him, after the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider had taken the lead at the front of the pack.
By lap nine it had all shuffled again with Iddon leading from Bridewell with Glenn Irwin pushing the Ducati pairing ahead of him. The Honda Racing contender then moved into second with a move on lap nine at Agostini and then a lap later claimed the lead.
Brookes had moved into third and back into a podium position with Bridewell back in fourth place by lap 11 with Lee Jackson, Tarran Mackenzie and Andrew Irwin in the first group as the leading manufacturers battled for the points.
By lap 15 Bridewell had moved back ahead of Brookes and then had Iddon in his sights for second place after Glenn Irwin had edged a gap at the front in the closing stages. Bridewell waited until the final dive into Murrays to make a move on Iddon to put him into second, which he held until the finish line.
Jackson meanwhile got the better of Brookes for fourth place on the final lap with Mackenzie leading the McAMS Yamahas home, just ahead of teammate Jason O’Halloran. Andrew Irwin, Ray and Kyle Ryde who completed the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Round 5 result:
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati)
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 0.490s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.696s
- Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +0.853s
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +2.682s
- Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) +2.966s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +3.889s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +9.549s
- Luke Mossey (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +11.845s
- Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) +19.310s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Round 6 result:
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing)
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.138s
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.441s
- Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +2.255s
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +2.300s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +2.359s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +3.462s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +6.510s
- Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) +7.303s
- Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) +7.402s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Snetterton:
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 118
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 95
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 86
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 82
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 65
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) 58
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 56
- Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) 52
- Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) 44
- Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) 30
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Glenn Irwin
(Honda Racing)
Monster Energy Race of Aces winner
Bennetts BSB Championship leader
“It feels really nice to be back on the top step, on the cool down lap I allowed myself a few minutes to really enjoy it. It was lots of celebration, lots of jubilation on the bike… not so much emotion because the seconds we’ve had have felt like victories, because we’re thinking of the championship.
“We finished second in round four, the first race of this weekend, then increased the points lead after round five and after this last one now we have a 23 point advantage, so the second places nearly feel as good when we look at it that way, but a victory is so sweet.
“I am so grateful to Honda Racing; the new Fireblade is a dream to ride and for me it worked how I want a motorbike to work. I’m over the moon with the weekend on the whole, not just this race.
“Thanks to everyone who stood by me, we’ll keep working in the same way, keep our feet on the ground, enjoy the moment and maybe enjoy a kebab tonight or something! I couldn’t ask for any more, I’m really content and I’m just trying to stay on that level. I’ve got lots of support around me, lots of support from the fans so thanks so much to them.
“It’s really great to win the Monster Energy Race of Aces too, I thought after race two it was going to be difficult as Josh beat me in the first two races, but I think we might have recovered the points we lost which is really good. Some great riders have won this trophy; I had a little look and thought about it before I came here – when you think with these things I think it’s an inner confidence and I did believe we could make it happen this weekend.”
