Irwin and BeerMonster Ducati bounce back to win race three

Glenn Irwin bounced back from a race two crash to celebrate victory in the final Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Knockhill, holding off his teammate Tommy Bridewell to celebrate a double win in Scotland, sharing today’s victories with Kyle Ryde.

Irwin had won the opening race of the weekend, but he shared the Scottish success with Ryde. The intense action across the three races meant that five different riders from three different teams featured on the podium.

In race two Ryde claimed his fourth win of the season after a determined performance to maintain his momentum for LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha.

O’Halloran had initially taken the lead ahead of Ryde, Ryan Vickers and Irwin. The lead group became a train of five riders as Bridewell worked his way through the order after his start from ninth on the grid and Christian Iddon was also in contention.

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O’Halloran was piling the pressure on Ryde for the lead, but after attempting a move at the Hairpin, the McAMS Yamaha rider went wide and then as the pack crossed the line to start lap 23, Irwin passed both of his Yamaha rivals to move into the lead.

Irwin was then leading from Ryde, O’Halloran, Bridewell, Vickers and Iddon. However, it was a disaster for the BeerMonster Ducati rider when he crashed out of the lead at the Hairpin with three laps to go.

Ryde was then the race leader with Bridewell promoted to second after he had carved his way up the order with O’Halloran in third and that was how the podium lined up at the chequered flag.

Vickers missed out on the podium in fourth place with Iddon equalling his best result of the season in fifth place.

In race three, O’Halloran was again the race leader on the opening lap as he launched off the line ahead of Iddon and teammates Bridewell and Irwin.

Iddon wasted no time in trying to capture the lead and moved ahead of O’Halloran on the brakes into the Hairpin on the opening lap, but his McAMS Yamaha rival instantly fought back and regained the position before the start line.

It was heartbreak for O’Halloran though as he crashed his McAMS Yamaha out of the lead a lap later. Meanwhile Bridewell had moved into second and with the Australian out of contention, the BeerMonster Ducati rider was then leading the pack.

Ryde had been working his way up the order and he was second by the third lap ahead of Iddon and Irwin. Irwin though was determined to bounce back from his race two crash and he was into second by the tenth lap with a move on Ryde into turn one.

The leading group then became Bridewell, Irwin Ryde, Iddon and Vickers, but the BeerMonster Ducatis broke the pack in the closing stages. Irwin then grabbed the lead from Bridewell on lap 18 with another move on the brakes into turn one before holding him off until the chequered flag with the pair separated by 0.879s at the finish.

Iddon had been holding third place as he fought for his first podium finish of the season but he overshot the Hairpin with ten laps to go and had to re-join after an excursion through the gravel but was then in tenth. He was able to get the better of Dean Harrison in the closing stages but he had to settle for ninth place.

Vickers meanwhile had been shadowing his LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha teammate and he hit third with a move at the Hairpin on lap 20, before holding off the race two winner to claim his second podium finish of the season.

Lee Jackson was fifth as he battled with Leon Haslam ahead of Tom Neave who scored his season best result for Honda Racing UK after keeping Josh Brookes at bay on the leading FHO Racing BMW Motorrad.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, Race 2 result:

1. Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha)
2. Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.903s
3. Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +1.171s
4. Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +2.148s
5. Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +5.188s
6. Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +10.926s
7. Storm Stacey (Starline Racing Kawasaki) +12.603s
8. Tom Neave (Honda Racing UK) +13.807s
9. Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) +15.170s
10. Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) +15.458s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, Race 3 result:

1. Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati)
2. Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.879s
3. Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +3.137s
4. Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +7.483s
5. Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +9.675s
6. Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) +9.854s
7. Tom Neave (Honda Racing UK) +11.396s
8. Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) +11.868s
9. Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +17.964s
10. Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki) +21.255s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:

1. Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 163
2. Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 155
3. Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 152
4. Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) 136
5. Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 136
6. Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 98
7. Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) 97
8. Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 85
9. Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 78
10. Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) 61

Glenn Irwin
BeerMonster Ducati
“It’s a shame what happened in today’s first race as I could have been coming away with a hat-trick but I’m happy with the two wins we had and, like, yesterday, I really, really enjoyed the final race.

“I could see Tommy in the lead and knew when it was time to up the pace as whilst he was strong in some areas, I felt strong all around the circuit.

“He improved his braking into the hairpin all weekend, but the BeerMonster Ducati was strong out of the hairpin, and I was able to make my move along the straight and into the first corner.

“Two wins out of three means it’s been a pretty good weekend and I need to thank the team.”
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