Honda Racing UK fired up as the Showdown battle commences at Oulton Park
Oulton Park
Glenn Irwin and the Honda Racing UK team sit fourth in the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, as the title fighters’ Showdown begins this weekend (23-24-25 September), with the championship returning to Oulton Park for the second time this season.
It’s been a mixed season for Glenn aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, who claimed his first treble victory at the opening round at Silverstone and was again on the podium at Brands Hatch.
At the second round in May, he finished 11-9-7 at the Cheshire circuit and Glenn is aware that a strong weekend will be crucial for the title fight. Currently sitting fourth in the overall standings with 1016 points, he currently has a two-point buffer to Lee Jackson in fifth place.
Meanwhile teammates Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi will be looking to further improve their results from Round 2, which saw Ryo 22-22-21 and Takumi 25-21-17. Finishing regularly in point-scoring positions throughout the season, the Japanese duo will be looking to score further points across the weekend.
BSB rookie Tom Neave will also be looking to turn his fortunes round at the 2.69-mile circuit, where at the second round he impressed finishing 17th and 15th but crashed out heavily on the opening lap on the final race. He will be looking to better his results and chase down the top-10 across the remaining three rounds.
Superbike first practice gets underway at 12.30 on Friday 23 September, with Race 1 taking place on Saturday (24 September). Race 2 and 3 will take place on Sunday (25 September). Click here for the full weekend timetable.
Firstly it was really nice to secure the Showdown spot and go into the final three rounds fourth in the championship and ever so close to third. Now we start again at Oulton Park this weekend. The last time we raced there was probably the best round we had there on the Honda – I had my fastest ever lap and since then the Fireblade has changed a bit, particularly with the swingarm and the engine braking, so I am optimistic and excited to see how our upgrades feel and work there.We have a fighting chance to win the championship and I think we have a great chance of finishing in the top three, but I am also very aware that if we drop our game and feel like the job is done now we have made the Showdown that we could end the championship in eighth. That is something we can’t think about whatsoever.
We have just three rounds left this season and I'm really looking forward to the next three rounds as they are all on tracks I've raced on once before and we have data to work with. We are improving day by day and with our team's strength we have enough power to aim for the top 10, so we will do our best again this time to aim even higher!
Oulton Park is not my best track, but I think my Fireblade and myself are getting better in the second half of the season, so I will try to do my best to battle in as good a position as possible.
We’re heading into the last three rounds of the championship, obviously we’re not in the Showdown but I’m still looking to do the best job we can, and hopefully improve on what we have been doing. People might think as we’re not in the Showdown we can let our hair down a bit, but I’m going to be putting in maximum effort, giving it my all and trying to continue to improve. The last time at Oulton I had a heavy crash in the final race of the weekend, but I’ve put to the back of my mind and I’m not thinking about it. It’s a circuit I really enjoy riding and I’m going in with an open mind. I’ve trained hard this week, I’m feeling great, and I think we’ll be in a good position. Most importantly we’re arriving after having a better weekend last time out, where we had three-point scoring finishes; something we’ve not had since Round 1. My race pace also improved every time out on the bike and things were just starting to head in the right direction. It’s still all baby steps, but hopefully we can take that into this weekend and make further progress.