Glenn Irwin claimed honours in the final British Superbike Championship (BSB) race of the weekend at Oulton Park, the BeerMonster Ducati resisting the persistent attentions of Leon Haslam to get the win by just 0.062s and with it the overall lead.

Dicing it out for much of the race with Haslam on the ROKiT BMW M 1000 RR, though the 2018 BSB Champion briefly nosed ahead with six laps remaining, a cool Irwin soon struck back before calmly holding his form in a sprint to the flag, with Kyle Ryde producing an impressive late charge to complete the podium.

Andrew Irwin came from the second row of the grid to lead into Old Hall on the opening lap and he retained the lead all the way round the lap, brother Glenn slotting into second ahead of Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW), Haslam, Tommy Bridewell on the second BeerMonster Ducati and Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha). Danny Kent was out though, having ran on into the gravel at Druids on his Lovell Kent Racing Honda.

Haslam got up the inside of Brookes at Old Hall at the start of the second lap and Glenn Irwin pulled the same move on Andrew next time around as less than a second covered the leading seven riders in the early stages.

At the start of lap four the order was Glenn Irwin, Andrew Irwin, Haslam – who had a six-place grid penalty due to having incorrect gear ratios - Brookes, Bridewell and Peter Hickman, the latter overhauling Ryde and half way round the lap, Bridewell pushed Brookes back to fifth.

Haslam moved up to second on the sixth lap at the expense of Andrew Irwin and the front eight, which also included Christian Iddon on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati, had now opened up a significant gap over ninth placed Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) whilst further back, double race crasher Jason O’Halloran had climbed up to 13^thon the McAMS Yamaha.

By lap nine, half race distance, Glenn Irwin and Haslam had begun to edge away and Bridewell was quick to spot the danger, moving by Andrew Irwin at Old Hall. Brookes remained in fifth ahead of Ryde, Hickman and Iddon.

Glenn Irwin and Haslam had a three-quarters of a second advantage over Bridewell as the race entered its second half but by the end of lap 11, the trio were running together as Bridewell set the fastest lap of the race at 1’34.532. They were more than a second clear of the next trio which was now headed by Brookes with Ryde pushing Andrew Irwin back further to sixth.

Haslam grabbed the lead at Old Hall at the start of lap 12 and in trying to hold him off Glenn Irwin ran wide which handed second place to team-mate Bridewell. The positions reversed though at the end of the lap and all the time Brookes and Ryde were reeling them back in.

Indeed, it was a five-rider battle for the lead by lap 13 and Glenn Irwin re-took the lead at Hizzy’s with Ryde taking fourth from Brookes at the same time. Hickman looked secure in sixth with Andrew Irwin and Iddon fighting over seventh.

As the race entered its final stages, Brookes had been dropped slightly and it looked to be a four-horse race for the win with Glenn Irwin continuing to keep his pursuers at bay whilst Ryde was having his best ride of the weekend as he took third from Bridewell at Hizzy’s with two laps to go.

No-one was able to get close enough to Glenn Irwin on the final lap though and he held off Haslam on the run in to the line to take his second win of the season and with it the championship lead. Ryde took third from Bridewell with Brookes fifth and Hickman sixth.

Iddon just got the better of Jackson for seventh with Andrew Irwin dropping back to ninth and it was O’Halloran who completed the top ten after a last lap, last corner move on Dean Harrison, the latter also losing a place to Storm Stacey on the run to the line. Jack Kennedy, Charlie Nesbitt and Davey Todd completed the top 15.

BSB Oulton Park Race 3 Results [Rd.2]