BSB: Irwin: 'My future is uncertain, but I'm not stuck for options"

Glenn Irwin has said that while his future with the Be Wiser Ducati squad is ‘uncertain’, he isn’t stuck for options for the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike season.

Irwin has come under fire from Be Wiser Ducati boss Paul Bird for not standing on the top step since being promoted to the team’s number one rider after Shane Byrne was sidelined through injury.

Bird had announced that Irwin would remain with the team for 2019 back at Knockhill, but the Cumbrian has since told MCN that the Northern Irishman’s position in the squad could be under threat should results not improve.

Irwin answered that with two rostrums at Silverstone this weekend, leaving the Northamptonshire circuit with more points than any rider other than triple winner Haslam.

MotoGP exile Scott Redding is hotly tipped to join the PBM squad in BSB next year should he not be able to find a Moto2 ride, and while Bird has confirmed that he doesn’t see a circumstance in which Shane Byrne will ride for the team next year even if he recovers, who will ride the second bike is far from certain.

“This weekend my future seems to have been more talked about in the paddock than Leon’s treble, so to answer that with a 2-3-4 scorecard knowing there are areas we can improve has done me good,” Irwin told MCN. “For sure, my future is uncertain but I’m not stuck for options.”

Irwin narrowly missed out on victory in Saturday’s opening race at Silverstone, but rear grip woes hampered the Ducati man on Sunday.

“We struggled with starts and the bike with a full fuel load and we’ve spun the rear a lot. I finished both races on Sunday with holes in my rear tyre and I couldn’t see any of my opposition with the same problem. Considering that, I was really on the limit towards the end of the races, so if we’d had the grip I would have been fine so that’s something we need to look at. We have an option of swinging arms and things and at Oulton we’ll probably go back to the old one.”