BSB: Positive test for injured Irwin

Published: 19 July 2017

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Glenn Irwin will return to the MCE British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend for the first time since his nasty crash at Knockhill.

Irwin dislocated and fractured his elbow and shoulder when he came off his Panigale R in free practice at Knockhill last month, and after being forced to miss the Snetterton round as he continued to recover from his injury he will make his return this weekend.

With the exception of some laps on a road bike, Irwin hadn’t ridden a bike until yesterday’s test at Cadwell Park and with the arm still feeling weak, he had feared he would miss this weekend but after 52 laps of one of the most physical circuits on the calendar, he’s feeling much more confident.

“I was pleased to hear we’d done so many laps,” Irwin told MCN. “Riding was very difficult when we started the day, but it got easier each time we went out and we made good progress. The lap times were reasonable, alright considering, anyway! After lunch I could feel I was more tired. I didn’t feel I was losing out to the others too much on track, especially on right handers but on left handers it’s very tough.

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“The good news is Brands is less physical, it’s a few more days away and there are less left handers and the ones that are there are less physical than here.

“I haven’t lost confidence, which is probably one of the most key things. It’s tough, we’re early in the recovery process but if we can get points at Brands it’ll be good for damage limitation.

“After the test at Cadwell, I now know I can definitely be there, whether I’ll complete two races I don’t know yet. We don’t need to do too much until qualifying, so if we can get to there we’ll push on from there and see where we get.”

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By Oli Rushby

Former sports reporter covering British Superbikes, World Superbikes and road racing