After a six-week break, the Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team got their Bennetts British Superbike Championship campaign back underway in fine style at Snetterton today with team leader Glenn Irwin claiming third place during Datatag qualifying for round four.
Leading the team in the absence of injured reigning champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne, the Ulsterman will start tomorrow’s opening 16-lap race from the front row on the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R with team-mate and brother Andrew also impressing so far as he posted the 12th quickest time for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team.
With the fifth fastest lap overall from yesterday’s and this morning’s free practice sessions, 28-year-old Glenn was in confident mood heading into this afternoon’s Datatag three-phase qualifying session and with the fifth fastest time once more in Q1, he progressed into Q2. The Carrickfergus rider continued to impress with a time of 1m 47.243s seeing him top the leaderboard ahead of the final Q3 section.
Then, with just eight minutes to put in a quick time around the three-mile 300 configuration, Glenn was quick out of the blocks and his first flying lap of 1m 46.876s put him comfortably quickest but just when it looked like he’d claim his maiden BSB pole position, Bradley Ray and Josh Brookes pushed him back to third in the closing stages with just 0.244 seconds covering the trio.
23-year-old team-mate Andrew made his BSB debut after impressing in a shakedown test at Knockhill earlier in the week and he did so again at Snetterton, posting the 11th fastest time across the free practice sessions.
The first segment of qualifying saw him set his first sub-1m 48s lap of the weekend and a time of 1m 47.944s meant he comfortably made it through to Q2. He improved further still during the shorter 12-minute session with a time of 1m 47.636s and although it meant he didn’t move through to Q3, qualifying in twelfth place was an excellent effort in his first outing.
Glenn Irwin: “It’s been a really good weekend so far and after a solid test at Knockhill and my wins at the North West 200, I arrived here with a lot of confidence. The team’s working really well and whilst there’s a bit of pressure on me as the team leader, I think it’s a position I can thrive on. We made a small, but key change to the bike between Q1 and Q2 which made a significant impact on what I could do with the bike, but we’ll definitely be looking to improve further for tomorrow’s races. I’m a better racer than I am a qualifier so I’m feeling good ahead of race day.”
Andrew Irwin: “I had no expectations coming into the weekend but if someone had handed me 12th place in qualifying at the beginning of the weekend, I’d have taken it! The test at Knockhill was quite difficult as it came straight after three days of riding at Brno and I was quite fatigued, but I came here fully rested and ready to make the next step in what I hope is just the beginning of my BSB career. I’m understanding the bike and learning all the time and I’ve been pleased with the progress I’ve made so far in the first two days, so I’ll be looking for some points tomorrow.”
Johnny Mowatt, Team Coordinator: “There’s pressure on Glenn’s shoulders now that he’s the team leader so hopefully he’s ready to step up to the plate. We know it’s a circuit where the bike works well but we also knew qualifying was an area where Glenn needed to improve as you can’t afford to be back in the pack. Today has been a good start to that and he’s looked good all weekend. We were under no illusions as to how big an ask it was going to be for Andrew and we had no expectations on his results, but he’s done a brilliant job so far. He’s taking it step by step and understanding how the Ducati works each time he goes out and what’s been especially pleasing is that he did his best lap time on his own so fair play to him. It’s been a good day and we’ll be hoping for a strong race day.”
Qualifying results
1 Bradley Ray (Suzuki) 1m46.632s
2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha) 1m46.768s
3 Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m46.876s
4 Jake Dixon (Kawasaki) 1m46.906s
5 Leon Haslam (Kawasaki) 1m47.103s
6 Dan Linfoot (Honda) 1m47.338s
12 Andrew Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m47.636s
For further information, please visit the team’s website, www.pbmuk.net and the official website of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship www.britishsuperbike.com.
Pictures (courtesy of Double Red Photographic). Glenn Irwin (2) and Andrew Irwin (18)
Notes to Editors:
Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM) are winners of over 180 races in British Superbike Championship, MotoGP CRT, World Superbike Championship, 125cc, 250cc, Supersport British Championships, Superstock National Championships, Isle of Man TT, North West 200, Daytona, Macau GP, and British domestic races. Points scorers in 125cc, 250cc and 500cc GPs. Points scorers in World Supersport, podium finishers in WSB, Superpole winners in World Superbike. They are based at Langwathby near Penrith in Cumbria.
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