British Superbike Rider Lashes Out After Race-Winning Overtake

Glenn Irwin roared back into the British Superbike winners' circle at Oulton Park, the first of three Showdown rounds to end the season.

Irwin won the final race of the weekend which was a shortened feature race due to lengthy delays taking place beforehand. BMW M 1000 RR rider Leon Haslam had been leading much of the ten-lap race before Irwin came through late on. Initially, it appeared as though contact had taken place between the two riders, but that wasn’t the case.

Irwin managed to get alongside Haslam at turn ten before the latter momentarily lost the front-end of his machine, causing him to run off and out of victory contention. Irwin went on to win by six-tenths in the wet ahead of Danny Kent. But criticism soon came Irwin’s way as some people believed he had nudged Haslam off. However, both riders denied this.

Of the backlash, Irwin had some very strong words, saying: “Armchair k**bs out in full force. Leon locked the front, TV made it look different. All cool as hell. Friend and fan of Leon. Shut up k**b heads lol.”

Haslam then added: “Glenn made the move, I know I was struggling out the corner before and we struggled the whole race trying to stop the thing - kept locking the front brake, so as soon as he come [sic] alongside me, I lost the front and obviously had to take the slip road.”

The first of three Showdown weekends so plenty of drama for title contenders Tommy Bridewell and Kyle Ryde. Bridewell, who is set for a World Superbike wildcard this weekend at Cremona, ended the weekend leading the way, but that was not before losing the championship lead after Ryde’s race one victory at Oulton Park.

Ryde then struggled in the wet, finishing 13th, which handed the advantage back to the Honda rider. Ryde went on to win his second race of the weekend during Sunday’s race three, with Bridewell finishing second.

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