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BSB Oulton Park | Andrew Irwin regains belief after positive Honda haul of points

Impact Images/Tim Keeton

Andrew Irwin was back close to his best at Oulton Park at the weekend with three top ten finishes in the three British Superbike Championship races, two of which were in the top six, elevating the Honda Racing rider to sixth in the early standings.

After qualifying in seventh, Irwin took a solid sixth in the Sprint race and then had long spells in the front three in Monday’s longer format races, including a period in the lead, but fourth was ultimately his best result across the weekend.

“I think qualifying was good. I struggled in FP3 in the wet but we then made a big step and went fastest in Q1, which I think was an advantage for Q2 because we knew the track conditions,” he said.

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“I was slightly unlucky in Q2 as I crossed the line seven seconds too soon and weren't able to do another lap in the best conditions. The Sprint race went well but I lost the front group due to a crash for another rider. Sixth was definitely a decent ride around Oulton though.”

Irwin improved to fourth in Monday’s first race, losing third place to brother Glenn at two-thirds race distance, but then looked on course for a podium, at least, in the final race when he led in the early stages. A troublesome arm saw him fade back to ninth in the second half of the race although he was happy with his weekend’s work.

“Honestly, this weekend has been a lot more positive than I thought,” he said. “Whenever you go to a track you always try to isolate the negatives and this track has not always been the best for me. In all three races, we were in good positions and we made a big step overnight which put me in the podium fight.”

“The final race was frustrating as I faded a little bit after putting everything into the morning race. There was nothing wrong with the bike and it was me, I just had a sore arm. I take away the positives though, it is a long season and we now go to Donington which is a track that I go really well at.”

Indeed, three of his four BSB wins have come at Donington with 50% of his career podiums also coming at the Leicestershire venue, statistics that could make him a formidable threat in three weeks’ time. 

CLICK HERE to view the 2023 BSB Championship Standings after Round 2 of 11

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