MWR Kawasaki's Glenn Irwin at Thruxton circuit today confirmed he still fully has his sights fully set on grabbing the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship title, which he still thinks is possible despite the opening three rounds not going to plan.

Irwin, 2010 Irish Supersport Champion, is taking part in his first full year in the championship after an impressive wildcard ride for the team at the end of last season. After suffering one DNF, his two top ten results currently put him 10th in the overall standings.

Talking to www.bikesportnews.com about his debut season, Irwin said: 'It is definitely the class I want to be in. I didn't want to go to Supersport because you need to be able to walk before you can run. With doing Superstock you can learn and be in a chance for wins, also you need to have your name up there all the time in racing.'

'So far the season hasn't gone to plan we've had a bit of bad luck, we are at the hard rounds at the moment, we need to get past these circuits I haven't seen. The goal this year is to win the championship and I still think it's possible. I haven't clicked yet, I am not riding like I can ride. We have had quick testing times, I thought I was on it and was doing good. I don't know what it is, it could be just a nervous thing or whatever but I know when I click, I will be there.'

Despite still being one of the fastest series out there, generally across the teams the top speeds for riders are down compared to last year, Irwin states that this could be due to the fuel type change but because of this the drilling down and comparasion of track performance is not really feasible when trying to compare to last year. In addition to this the team are also running brand new bikes for which new settings need to be found, of which this weekend the front end seems to have been the main focus.

Trying to return to top form Irwin has taken a different approach for this weekend, he explains: 'I am feeling a lot more relaxed this weekend, I have been nervous. I took a different approach this week as I have not been riding good, but if you keep worrying about it you get worse. I went to the North West, I relaxed, pushed hard in the gym in the week and came here ready for it.'

Irwin qualified just inside the top ten this afternoon for the first session with the aim of improving yet again tomorrow.