British Superbikes: Tommy Bridewell regains lead from Glenn Irwin amid Donington drama

Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell are both contending for their first BSB title

Tommy Bridewell has regained the British Superbikes series lead from title rival Glenn Irwin after a day of drama at Donington Park.

Bridewell holds a 7.5-point lead over Irwin after the Northern Ireland rider was forced out of the final race of the weekend due to a technical problem.

England's Bridewell finished ninth in the red-flagged race, won by Jason O'Halloran from Christian Iddon.

In Sunday's earlier race, Bridewell crashed into Irwin.

Bridewell's coming together with his PBM Ducati team-mate on lap 12, sent both bikes to the ground and out of the race.

Northern Ireland rider Irwin remonstrated with England's Bridewell while he lay on the ground following the crash.

Bridewell was given three penalty points and a three-place grid penalty for causing the crash, while Irwin got two penalty points for his reaction.

Kyle Ryde won the race after it was red-flagged due to rain on lap 17 with Leon Haslam second and Christian Iddon third.

In a statement on Sunday evening, Irwin said that "he did touch Tommy Bridewell whilst he rolled about like a footballer in the gravel to suddenly bounce up afterwards".

Despite his weekend misfortune, the Carrickfergus rider said he has a "great feeling with the bike right now".

"The actual results this weekend are irrelevant. My belief my faith in the team and most importantly, my feeling of what's to come is stronger than ever," added Irwin.

The sanctions meant Irwin held a 1.5-point lead over Bridewell at the top of the series standings, having gone into the first of Sunday's two races with a 0.5-point advantage.

It also meant that this year's British Superbikes title can now not be decided until the final day of the final competition at Brands Hatch next weekend.

Irwin and Bridewell went into Sunday's first race having both failed to score a point in race one, held in wet track conditions and over a reduced distance of 10 laps, on Saturday.

Irwin pitted in the early stages of the race to change to wet tyres, while Bridewell did likewise in the latter stages, but they ended up classified in 23rd and 24th place, a lap adrift of the pacesetters.

Both men started Sunday's race strongly, with Irwin going from 12th on the grid to the front by the end of the first lap, and Bridewell hitting the front for the first time in the ninth lap after starting at the back of the grid.

It looked like an epic battle to win the race was shaping up between the Ducati pair, with Ryde and Ryan Vickers also well in the frame.

However, three laps later, Bridewell clipped Irwin as he tried to pass him and ended both riders' participation in the race.