BSB: Glenn Irwin says rostrum results crucial at Cadwell Park as Showdown looms

The Carrickfergus man claimed pole at Thruxton in the previous round, but Irwin was left frustrated in the races as he finished fifth and ninth on the PBM Be Wiser Ducati. Currently fourth in the championship standings, the 28-year-old is determined to boost his podium points at Cadwell Park this weekend to bolster his prospects for the Showdown title battle, which gets underway at Oulton Park next month. Irwin said: “I didn’t really feel like I had raced at Thruxton and I was so frustrated afterwards. If you get beat in a race, then fair enough, but I was really just riding around after about four laps. “I know that we still finished in front of a lot of other decent riders, but I’m not interested in that – I’m interested in fighting for wins and the championship. “If you look back to 2016 at Thruxton, ‘Shakey’ won a race and I had my first ever BSB podium, but last year I was injured and it was hard to gauge my performance. “I think due to the nature of Thruxton, there was a lot of spinning on the edge of the tyre and the Ducati just maybe has too much torque around the track,” added Irwin. “Our focus is now on Cadwell Park. I did win a Supersport race there in the wet but I’ve never really had a lot of success there until I went to Superbike. “I’ve always felt good there and the track also suits the Ducati – not that it suits our bike better than any of the others, but it has fast and flowing sections and our bike is good in those areas.” Irwin was boosted by a positive test at Cadwell and although he is feeling in confident mood, he is anticipating a tough battle for the podium places. “We had a strong test at Cadwell and we made a change to the bike, which found us a load of grip and better corner exit speed,” he said. “Can we win at Cadwell – definitely – but our rivals are also strong there. I think you’ll see a more normal race where the top four or five in the championship are up there, plus you have other guys in the championship who really need to try and dig out results for the Showdown. “I think it will be really tough for anyone to get a double win this weekend, but we will certainly do our best. The aim is to be ready to fight for the title in the Showdown and I believe that is still a very strong possibility.” Irwin and his younger brother, Andrew, made history at Thruxton when they became the first siblings to qualify on the front row for a British Superbike race. BSB rookie Andrew produced a sensational performance in qualifying to secure third place on the grid, although a crash in race one and an 11th place finish in the second encounter was not what the 23-year-old had hoped for on the Panigale R. “Thruxton wasn’t great so the plan is to get back to scoring solid points and challenging as high up the leaderboard as possible,” he said. “I really enjoy riding at Cadwell Park, I’ve tested the Be Wiser Ducati there so it’s to go back to a track I’ve already ridden at. I want two strong rides and want the gap to the leaders to be as small as possible. “The Be Wiser Ducati works really well at Cadwell, I’m really looking forward to it.” On Friday, Glenn was second fastest in FP1 at Cadwell despite crashing unhurt at the bottom of the Mountain. Leon Haslam topped the times by only 0.009s. Andrew was ninth fastest with Michael Laverty in 15th on the Tyco BMW.