Glenn Irwin heads into the opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with a deficit to close to the top of the standings in the battle to become 2023 champion, but feeling confident, as statistically Oulton Park has been the circuit that together with the Hager PBM Ducati team, he has previously excelled.
Irwin completed the hat trick at the Cheshire circuit earlier in the season taking his tally to victories in six of the last seven races and on the podium in the last ten visits. The Hager PBM Ducati rider is fighting to return to the podium for the first time since Snetterton and is eager to make it count this weekend as the points value increases for the Showdown.
Irwin said: “Off the back of Cadwell Park with three fifths and also three good starts, which is something that I have noticed of late that we have improved on these last few rounds, so that’s important as we come to the meaty end of the season.
“I was a little bit dejected in some sense at Cadwell Park, going racing and working so hard for three fifths – it’s tough. I spoke a lot with Christian and we are both struggling in similar areas. But on a whole when I walked away from the weekend and looked at it, it was an assessment of three great rides and I held on to the guys who had perhaps packages to fight for the wins for a while and it pulled me away from the group behind, which became the target after race one.
“So three solid results and we go onto Oulton Park, where we had a lot of success earlier in the year and we have won five of the last six races and been on the podium in the last ten, so the statistics at Oulton Park are great for me and the bike.
“Oulton Park has had some resurfacing which we got to sample earlier in the year and it has made it even better than it already was! We are lacking a little bit of grip this season in corner entry and exit and anywhere with new surface does make a positive difference to that so I am aware that our rivals will have all improved from when we were at Oulton Park earlier in the season, so we go with an open and positive mind.
“There is a gap in the championship but as we have seen from last year, anything can happen. We as a team and me as a rider will never give up so let’s go and put a good show on at a round that is always popular with the team sponsors and my personal sponsors, so I am looking forward to it.”