Glenn Irwin back on the podium with a 2nd place in Race 1 at Snetterton
Be Wiser Ducati's Glenn Irwin converted his front row start to claim a 2nd place finish in Race 1 at Snetterton on Sunday afternoon.
Starting from 3rd on the grid, Glenn got a good start and was running in 2nd behind race leader Bradley Ray before the race was temporarily put on hold when the safety car came out.
Brother and teammate Andrew Irwin, who is replacing the injured Shane 'Shakey' Byrne at Be Wiser Ducati for the rest of the season, had impressed with his immediate speed as he adapts from his World Supersport bike to the Ducati Panigale R. But with a full fuel load, Andrew ran hot into Turn 2 on the opening lap, crashing and taking out Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW Motorrad) and Honda Racing teammates Dan Linfoot and Jason O'Halloran. This incident brought the safety car out and caused a premature end to Andrew's first British Superbike race.
Once the safety car came in Glenn was sticking with race leader Ray, going on to post the fastest lap of the race on lap 7 with a time of 1:47.351. On the 10th lap Ray crashed out, gifting Glenn the lead. But Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) closed Glenn down to make pass and ultimately the win. Glenn maintained his 2nd place and crossed the finish line less than half a second behind with Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) taking the final podium position.
Taylor 'Tmac' Mackenzie (Moto Rapido Ducati) started the race in 16th but was up to 7th by the time the race was restarted. Despite losing a few places as the race progressed, Taylor crossed the line in 11th - his best finish of the season to date.
Glenn lines up for Race 2 in pole position, Tmac in 8th, while Andrew starts from the back of the grid after failing to post a lap time.
Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati #2) - 2nd
"It was quite tricky because Bradley was on the harder option [tyre] and he was trying to stretch the race. I'm sure his plan was to get us guys to chase him and wreck our tyres. I felt like I was doing a good job. I was sitting behind him, going quite fast, without trying not use too much. I think in the end Leon had a little more than me. I fell asleep after Bradley went down. We can certainly regroup for Race 2 and be stronger. Fair play to Leon. He rode a really, really good race. He closed two seconds off me to win it so he deserves a pat on the back. And congrats to Jake as well."
![[Image: glenirwinrace1snett.jpg]](http://www.ttwebsite.com/gifs/2018/BSB/glenirwinrace1snett.jpg)
Glenn Irwin denied a double podium after he's taken out of contention in Race 2
Race 2 was one to forget for Glenn Irwin after he was denied a chance to fight for the win after being taken out of the race on Lap 11. But Andrew Irwin scored a Top 10 finish in his first BSB round while Taylor Mackenzie had his most successful round of the season to date.
The Be Wiser Ducati rider had started in pole and was in the leading group of racers made up of Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha), Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki), Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) and Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki). By 2/3 race distance Glenn had passed Dixon, before going on to make a move on Ray. But after running wide and losing positions he had it all to do again. He passed Ray a second time on Lap 11, but Ray cut back and lost the front of his bike, taking himself and a frustrated Irwin out of the race.
Glenn’s brother and new teammate Andrew Irwin had started from the back of the grid in 20th position after failing to post a laptime in Race 1. But he continued to impress during his first round with the Be Wiser Ducati team in Race 2, climbing up the field to score a Top 10 finish.
Taylor Mackenzie (Moto Rapido Ducati) continues to build on his results and had his best qualifying position of the season after lining up in 8th for Race 2. He finished his race in 12th to complete his most successful round of the season.
Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati #2) - DNF
“Really, really frustrating. To be honest. You can say I could have won, or this or that or whatever. But I had so much tyre left. As soon as Leon went into 2nd I was like, I’ll pass Bradley and Jake. I immediately passed Jake. I immediately passed Bradley, slightly overdone it. So, within a half a lap I was back by Jake, back past Bradley as such.
I didn’t even think it would be a hard race to win because the bike was working that good. We’d conserved the tyre that good that passes all would have all been done on acceleration. Clearly, those guys at the end had nothing left. We had so, so much.
That should have been the first win of the season and it wasn’t. The positive is that we worked good as a team this weekend. I’m riding probably the best I’ve ever ridden. We’ve stepped up to the task for sure. I‘m really, really happy going forward and think we can 200% fight for the championship.”
Andrew Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati #18) – 10th
“The team has made me feel so welcome. Paul Bird, PBM, Be Wiser Ducati Team, everyone person has welcomed me in. Obviously, with Shakey they’re expecting to win the races every weekend. With me, they know I’m a work in progress is probably the best way to describe it.
Friday, obviously went really strong. And the Saturday we qualified 12th. The time we done was pretty competitive we felt, I can’t be disappointed with that.
This morning, we had a big mistake on my behalf. It kind of took away a bit of the flow form the weekend. It was disappointing. But it’s one of those things, it’s racing, it happens. Luckily Jason was alright. I’ve been speaking to him. He’s just the same as what he was. Sorry to those guys, the teams and the riders.
Race 2, I just started to weak. I was scared of the same thing happening again. It’s something to learn from. If I’m further down the grid. I stared last. If I started down the grid to be that little bit more aggressive the first few laps. Get by them, and then we can always be in the top 10. I believe that’s where we are at the minute. And we can work towards getting into the top 6 throughout the year, and towards the end of the year who knows where we’ll be. This is only Round 1 for me and we’ve 8 more rounds to do. I’m really looking forward to it."
Taylor Mackenzie (Moto Rapido Ducati #24) – 12th
"It was a positive weekend all in all. I had my best qualifying for Race 2 in 8th place. And then 11th and 12th in the races are my best 2 finishes so far. No crashes this weekend and we’ve moved forward with everything. On to Knockhill, the next one. We’ve got a good test before that. So, keep on learning all the time and trying to take little steps at a time and hopefully we’ll get there."