Glenn Irwin kept his title challenge firmly alive by claiming a hard-fought victory in the second Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Donington Park following an intense four-way battle with title rivals Tommy Bridewell and Kyle Ryde as Danny Kent just missing out on the podium.
At the start, Bridewell launched off the Omologato Pole Position to lead from Ryde, Glenn and Andrew Irwin, but the Hager PBM Ducati rider was instantly attacking and made a move into second but a moment at Melbourne Hairpin dropped him back to third again.
Bridewell was holding the lead until lap five when Irwin launched ahead at Redgate, but his nemesis retaliated straight away to regain the position at the top of Craner Curves and it wasn’t until a lap later when the Hager PBM Ducati rider could move back into the lead at the Melbourne Hairpin.
Irwin was then holding the advantage despite nothing between the top four throughout the 12-lap contest. On lap ten, Ryde had moved into the lead with a move at Melbourne, but Irwin fought back and went on to take the victory.
On the penultimate lap, Bridewell saved a huge moment at the top of the Craner Curves and then had to really battle back to claim second with a move on Ryde to force his closest rival back to third place at the chequered flag.
Kent held off Charlie Nesbitt for fourth place with Andrew Irwin, Lee Jackson and Christian Iddon completing the top eight. Max Cook and Josh Brookes claimed the final positions in the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 2 result:
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati)
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.241s
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +0.431s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +0.741s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +1.742s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +3.067
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) +5.348s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +5.899s
- Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +5.968s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +6.128s
For the full race result please click here
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 378
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 373
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 334
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 268
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 261
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 245
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) 229
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) 212
- Jason O'Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 187
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 184
For the full standings please click here