Irwin third as Ryde wins to cut deficit in series

Glenn Irwin sits third in the British Superbike championship standings

Glenn Irwin finished third in the first British Superbike race of the weekend at Donington on Saturday as Kyle Ryde took victory to close his deficit to Tommy Bridewell at the top of the championship standings to just three points.

OMG Yamaha rider Ryde and Honda Racing rival Bridewell set the pace at the front, with the eventual victor controlling things at the front to take his sixth victory in the last 10 races of the series with two seconds to spare.

Irwin was 6.6 seconds adrift as he edged out his brother Andrew for the final podium place, with Danny Kent and Charlie Nesbitt rounding out the top six.

Bridewell sits on 356 points, Ryde on 353 and Irwin on 309 ahead of Sunday's sprint race and second feature event.

The final round of races will be staged at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 12-13 October.

Dubliner Jack Kennedy made progress towards a potential fifth British Supersport title by taking the chequered flag in the Supersport sprint outing.

Runner-up Ben Currie was second and now trails his rival by 19 points at the top of the standings.

Eugene McManus was fifth, Lee Johnston sixth and Alastair Seeley eighth.

Luke Mossey was the winner of the National Superstock 1000cc race, by 2.8 seconds from Davey Todd, who leads the championship by seven points from third-place finisher Joe Talbot.

Eglinton's David Allingham was fourth and Larne's Scott Swann fifth.