Andrew Irwin says his ‘ultimate goal’ is to keep moving forward and progressing after proving fastest of Honda Racing UK’s triumvirate during 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship pre-season testing at Donington Park.

The Ulsterman - much like the factory-supported Honda team as a whole - is bidding to bounce back from a torrid 2023 BSB campaign stymied by an injury sustained in a testing incident at Knockhill.

The lengthy injury lay-off put paid to his comeback campaign as a Honda rider having been called up to replace his brother, Glenn Irwin, six years after making his BSB debut with the manufacturer.

Raring to go for the season ahead, Irwin turned in the fourth fastest time of the test overall, just ahead of his new team-mate and defending champion Tommy Bridewell.

“Honestly, it’s been a good test and we have worked through a lot of things. On every exit and in every session we have made a step forward and improved. 

“We need to keep working and keep this momentum going, the ultimate goal is to keep improving and to keep moving forward. I feel like I am riding quite well again and I need to keep working hard over the next two weeks ahead of Navarra. 

“We have two and a half days ahead of us there, so we need to focus on setting up the bike for the two longer races there as we don't have a sprint race. 

“I think Honda and the whole team in Louth have done a fantastic job, we have come here with a new bike and we have been competitive straight away. 

“My team, Spider, Rhodri, Ben and Adam have all worked really well and I am really happy with how things are going, I try not to get too excited about testing, keep my head down and my focus is all on the racing that we have coming up.”