No motorcycle racing competitor ever wants to crash but if you had to choose one BSB circuit you want to remain upright on more than any other it would be Thruxton.
The Hampshire circuit is renowned as the fastest racing venue in the UK with speeds reaching the business end towards 200mph around a lap that doesn’t feature a single straight and instead demands a pinned throttle on the edge of the tyre around fearsomely fast bends as Village, Church and Goodwood.
Racers love its exhilarating, slipstreaming nature… but it means when things do go wrong, they go wrong in a big way.
Just ask Glenn Irwin, whose podium challenge in the first BSB race of the weekend came undone with little more than a lap to go when his Honda got loose at the rear on the bumps at Village and flicked him towards a high-side.
Mercifully, Irwin collected it enough so as not to be flung into the air, but down he still went before tobogganing on his back side a fair distance, while his rider-less Fireblade continued wobbling on its two wheels before eventually coming to rest.
Though the accident scuppered the chance for both himself and Honda to collect a first BSB podium of the season, the Ulsterman was remaining positive about the upturn in form after a difficult start to the year.
“There's a lot of positives to be taken from Race 1 and I'm looking forward to the two longer races on Sunday. We seem to be able to manage the tyre wear over a shorter race, I'm aware that everyone can improve and we'll continue to do our work in warm up.
“I'm not going to dwell too much on the crash today, I'm sorry to the team for the added work and thank you to them for rebuilding the bike. I am looking forward to the longer 20-lap races tomorrow, as 13 here was fun!”
