Glenn Irwin completed a winning double in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship round at Cadwell Park to almost half his BeerMonster Ducati teammate’s advantage at the top of the standings with 16 riders remaining in mathematical title contention ahead of the Showdown.
Irwin came into the final round of the Main Season trailing Bridewell by 26.5 points and after a dominant double and a second place, he heads to Oulton Park in Cheshire with just a 14.5-point deficit. However, with the points’ value now increasing across the Showdown, the top 16 riders in the standings, completed by rookie Max Cook, remain in contention with a maximum of 255 points available across the final three rounds.
The annual August Bank Holiday round in Lincolnshire produced three intense races, and whilst the BeerMonster Ducati pairing were victorious, six riders celebrated podium finishes across the weekend for four different teams.
Irwin had got his weekend off to a flying start with his first Cadwell Park race win in the BikeSocial Sprint race yesterday, holding off the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha pairing of Kyle Ryde and Ryan Vickers to celebrate in style his 200th Bennetts BSB race start.
In race two, Irwin was focused on a repeat performance and after running eighth in the early stages, he was into second by the final lap. He then made a move on Ryde at Coppice to take the lead, which he held to the chequered flag with his LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha rival, and McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O'Halloran completing the podium line up.
In the final race of the Main Season, Ryde and Irwin were again fighting for the lead in the early stages of the race, but the final eight laps became a freight train of five riders who ended the race covered by less than a second.
Bridewell took the lead from Irwin with three laps remaining and was able to deny his teammate the treble, and there were celebrations for the ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team who completed the podium with Leon Haslam. Ryde, Lee Jackson and O’Halloran just missed out, as the top five ended the race separated by 0.947s.
Bridewell and Irwin remain at the top of the standings, with Ryde, O’Halloran and Haslam the leading five contenders ahead of Oulton Park as four teams feature in the top five ahead of the opening round of the Showdown on September 15/16/17.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 303
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 288.5
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 252
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 248.5
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 227
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) 216.5
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) 202
- Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 189
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 186
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) 116