Glenn Irwin arrives at Donington Park off the back of his treble win at Oulton Park leading the Bennetts British Superbike Championship by just six points as round three beckons this weekend.
Irwin missed out on the podium at the Circuito de Navarra season opener, but at Oulton Park he came out fighting to take a treble, the first wins in the new era of the Hager PBM Ducati team and the Northern Irish contender is now bidding to carry the momentum into this weekend’s action.
Irwin said: “Coming off the treble at Oulton Park and further success between there and Donington Park, it is nice to go in on a rich vein of form. The feeling was great at Oulton Park despite still developing some new items, I don’t believe we are just in the sweet spot just yet, but that being said we were still able to be incredibly strong and ride to the bike strength.
“The three races at Oulton Park were all highly pressurised as such but I always felt in control and that is something that pleases me a lot and something that will be a valuable asset in the championship.
“Going to Donington Park it is a track where we didn’t really have a lot of success last year, due to random things. We had some issues with the bike and the first round was early in the year and my adaption to the Ducati was far from complete. The final round, we had bad weather, the technical problem and a DNF in race two, so I don’t think we have shown what we can achieve at Donington Park, I had one podium in the first round last year.
“That being said we had a great test and great form in the second round there last year but we just couldn’t show that in the race for various reasons. I have the mind-set now where I never go to a track looking forward to it more than any other track on the calendar, so it is one that I believe we can continue our winning form.
“It would become a dream if we could achieve back-to-back trebles; of course first we have to get through free practice and work hard as a team. We also have Superpole and I feel like we learnt a lot when we did it at Navarra, we managed to bring a good lap that put us in the top four, which is a marked improvement from our last Superpole at Cadwell Park.
“We obviously want to continue this good form, the vibe in the team is great and it is probably the best environment and energy I have felt, so let’s continue that and rock on.”