British Superbikes: Glenn Irwin takes second in Donington race three to stay in title hunt
- Published
Glenn Irwin finished second in race three at Donington to lie third in the series
Glenn Irwin finished the Donington GP British Superbike round on a high by taking second place in race three to stay well in contention for the title.
Irwin began the day with a two-point lead in the championship but fell back to fourth after crashing in race one and taking seventh in race two.
His runner-up spot in the final 15-lapper sees him lie third in the series, with one round still to come.
The 30-year-old trails leader Josh Brookes by 18 points.
Brookes' PBM Ducati team-mate Christian Iddon is tied for second in the standings alongside Irwin, with fourth-placed Jason O'Halloran one point further behind ahead of the last three races at the Brands Hatch GP circuit on 17-18 October.
After the day's final race Glenn commented: "I really struggled in the dry in race two but the boys made a mega change to the bike and it worked perfectly. To achieve another podium at another new track for the Honda is super."
Glenn's brother and Honda team-mate Andrew won the first race of the day on Sunday, the opener having been rescheduled from Saturday as persistent rain had resulted in dangerous track conditions.
Glenn was the early leader and was setting a hot pace at the front in the wet conditions but crashed out unhurt at Goddards with only wounded pride.
Andrew came home 1.8 seconds ahead of Iddon, with Brookes occupying the final rostrum spot.
Andrew Irwin has won three races in this year's series
For Andrew, it was a third win of the season, a third at Donington and a fourth BSB race victory of his career.
The 25-year-old Honda Racing rider crashed out of race two, in which his sibling finished in seventh place, then was seventh himself in race three won by Scottish McAMS Yamaha rider Tarran Mackenzie.
Brookes took victory in race two from fellow Australian O'Halloran, with O'Halloran's team-mate MacKenzie third.
Andrew Irwin was involved in an incident on the opening lap with Ryan Vickers, Danny Buchan and Peter Hickman, which saw all four riders come off.
With a strong previous record at Brands, Brookes remains well placed to repeat his 2015 championship success, having ended up runner-up behind Scott Redding last year.
Fermanagh native Lee Johnston slid off while leading the Supersport sprint race on the final lap on Saturday but took third in the feature race to lie sixth overall in the standings.