Glenn Irwin became the fifth different race winner in the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton, but the standings leader knows that he faces tough opposition ahead of the next three rounds of the title fight at Silverstone this weekend.
Glenn Irwin holds a 23-point advantage over Tommy Bridewell in second place at the top of the standings, but the Honda Racing rider is already building up for the dogfight on the National circuit, knowing that it has previously been a happy hunting ground for his title rivals.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Glenn Irwin said: “I am really looking forward to the next three rounds at Silverstone. I will have a very similar approach to Snetterton, other than I think we know more now of how competitive the Honda is across the board. I don’t think we have to guard against, will the bike be strong or not this weekend, but one thing we do need to guard against is we don’t know how strong our competitors are going to be.
“I am confident in the Honda and we are capable of performing well, whereas at Snetterton we were still very guarded as we wasn’t sure whether Donington was just going to be a flash in the pan – we just didn’t know. We know that isn’t the case now, but at the same time we have seen how well the Yamaha has performed there in the past and the Suzuki last year took a win with Josh Elliott, combined with how well Kyle Ryde is riding – there is another name to throw into the mix this weekend.
“The Ducatis are always there; my brother Andrew and Danny will be looking to bounce back from difficult weekends, so I am under no illusions of how difficult it is going to be. It is a similar approach in that we have to work hard throughout free practice to make sure we are in the fight, but going by the races at Snetterton, it isn’t a podium fight. The fight for the podium can have you in first or in ninth, so for the championship, we obviously want to be closer to first but that takes a lot of hard work!
“This has definitely been the best start I have had to a season, before with PBM in 17 and 18 we had decent starts and good equipment, but a rider that would probably not have been in the zen as such then. I think the start this year has been a testament to the team and machinery underneath me and I feel in a much better place going racing, I just feel calm and in a really good position, that approach seems to be working - I feel like I have evolved a lot.
“For sure the Honda will be strong this weekend and there is no question about that, but we know how strong this track has been for our rivals, and it is being aware of that. The team have some development parts for this weekend, so hopefully we get some dry conditions as we have a lot to get through, but I am excited about that for sure.”