Irwin warms up for NW200 with superb BSB victory
Glenn Irwin's victory moved him to within seven points of championship leader Ryan Vickers
- Published
Carrickfergus man Glenn Irwin produced a composed ride to clinch his first victory of the British Superbikes season at Oulton Park.
On his PBM Ducati, Irwin dominated the opening race of the bank holiday meeting as he finished 1.069 seconds ahead of Christian Iddon.
Irwin's win moves him to within nine points of series leader Ryan Vickers, who finished fifth in Sunday's Race One.
The Northern Irishman's only moment of concern came as his bike wobbled on the penultimate corner but he quickly regained control to complete a dominant victory.
After Monday's two races at Oulton Park, Irwin will head straight to his native Northern Ireland for the coming week's North West 200 road racing meeting.
Kyle Ryde secured the final podium spot in Race One and is three points behind championship leader Vickers, who won both races in the opening round at Navarra in Spain.
Danny Kent, who was sixth on Sunday, occupies third place at this early stage of the championship, seven points behind Vickers, with Irwin next in fourth spot.
Irwin's brother Andrew was just out of the points in 16th place, as he was 32.291 seconds off the pace.
Tommy Bridewell, who pipped Irwin by 0.5 points to win last year's title, finished fourth in Sunday's race and lies eighth in the championship - 26 points adrift of Vickers.
Alastair Seeley, who will be a notable absentee from the North West 200 despite being the event's race record holder with 29 wins, finished 10th in Sunday's sprint Supersport sprint race, which means he is now seventh in the championship, some 40 points behind Luke Stapleford.
The Northern Irishman dropped down to outside the 20 places after a mistake on lap one but fought his way back into a points position.
Stapleford extended his series lead by holding off Ben Currie and Dubliner Jack Kennedy to win a thrilling race.
Stapleford now has a 16-point lead over Kennedy in the championship.
Randalstown rider Eugene McManus and Donegal man Rhys Irwin finished in fifth and seventh places and occupy eighth and 11th places in the series.