Glenn Irwin gave himself something to celebrate for his 200th British Superbike Championship start as two wins and a second place at Cadwell Park saw him take a chunk out of team-mate Tommy Bridewell’s BSB points advantage.

The Ulsterman came into the weekend staring down a 26.5 point margin to BeerMonster Ducati counterpart Bridewell at the head of the standings, but a return to form in Lincolnshire sees him end the weekend just 14.5 points adrift.

- 2023 BSB Championship Standings -

After putting on an expert display of defensive riding in the Sprint Race to resist the OMG Yamahas of Ryan Vickers and then Kyle Ryde on the final lap, Irwin left it late in Race 2 to get the better of the latter on a run to the flag.

“Typical Cadwell, you hope to get a good start and that didn’t happen, I think I was ninth at the end of the first lap but I could see there were people who would be rivals for victory not too far ahead,” he said after the race.

“So I went with the flow of the race, I keep saying that race felt like a story I knew the ending of. I feel good on the bike and in general and I’m enjoying it all.”

Eyeing up a hat-trick in race three, Irwin led for much of the encounter but couldn’t resist the pressure from team-mate Bridewell, whose late pass at Park on lap 14 was enough to get the better of Irwin by just +0.575s at the line.

“I’ve had a great feeling all year, Thruxton was what it was, but I have been looking forward to coming here. 

“We’ve worked well as a team but the last race we may have gone the wrong way on set-up to maximise grip out of turn two and three but a couple of laps in that race were all in and flat out. 

“I thought I had him lined up for the hairpin but the bike got a little snap but one race doesn’t define a weekend.”

Representing his first wins since Knockhill, despite losing some ground to Bridewell in the final race, Irwin feels he has momentum coming into the final three rounds.

`”We nook 20 points out over two rounds, I have a good feeling the trophy is going to be coming to Northern Ireland for the first time.”

Next up is Oulton Park, followed by Donington Park, with both events marking a return to the traditional points’ format of 25 points for a win before the Brands Hatch finale offers up a larger 35 points for victory to keep the title race open to the end.