BSB Q&A: Andrew Irwin stays with Honda for 2024

Andrew Irwin will remain with Honda Racing UK in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship next year after revocering from a serious arm injury.

Irwin suffered a fractured humerus during the Knockhill Test and missed the majority of the season as a result. MCN caught up with Irwin to discuss his year and his future with Honda.

It must be a great confidence booster that Havier Beltran has kept the faith in you despite what happened this year…

Exactly. At the start of the year our speed was nearly on par with everybody, but I didn’t always put it together. We made a massive step forward with the bike at Oulton and I felt quite confident, and then at Donington the speed was fantastic, but I made silly mistakes.

Being away, you watch and see it from a slightly different perspective; you look, learn and understand things more. For me, Harv giving me another opportunity another year, I really believe that I have all the ingredients to put everything together, but I just need to find the exact way to put it all together. Everything is there, it’s just finding the way to do that.

I’m another year older, another year more mature and I’m under no illusions that I need to have a good season, but at the same time, for me, a good season is getting back to winning races again and fighting for the podium.

I’m not saying I’m going into 2024 to become BSB champion, I’m going into 2024 to rebuild my career. It’s been a difficult, horrendous 2023 being injured, and I want to come back in a way that I’m fast and that I’m always there.

Did the positive start make the injury even worse for you?

I’d just started to be in the best moment that I’d even been in with the bike. I was super-fast at the Knockhill test. Everything just clicked and we found something for me. That was the most frustrating part because it felt mega, but that’s just the way, isn’t it? You’re at your best and then something happens.

That said, sometimes a break is as good as anything. I have plenty of fire in my belly, and plenty of positivity to come back and do the best job possible.

How are you feeling physically after your return?

Everyone told me to just take my time, but I don’t think we have a test planned until March. That’s 10 months without riding my race bike! I put everything into it and got the all clear from the doctor – I got the letter which said I was ok to race. Harv couldn’t argue with me once I got that!!

Harv just has my best interests at heart. That’s why I love being managed by him because he always looks after me whenever I…I just think this way, sometimes I don’t think of the bigger picture. I wasn’t then, but I just wanted to get back to racing.

At Brands I felt 10 times better racing, especially in the last race. At Donington I knew my body was wrecked still,but at Brands I noticed a step. I felt more competitive but could understand the limitations. At Donington, I don’t think I was as brain sharp whereas at Brands I was more ready to race.

Now I know what it feels like, I know the differences that I’ve made in the gym from Brands Hatch even to now, one month later, and I feel 10 times better.

How will you deal with the pressure next season?

I don’t even think about it. Our day-to-day job is to race motorbikes so if you’re thinking about the pressure…Yes, there’s pressure but you’re putting enough pressure on yourself anyway before anything else. I have expectations to come back and do a good job with the new bike. I don’t think of the pressure, I just think about the excitement that I get when thinking about the future.

My target to be competitive again. That’s all I want to do; I want to be competitive again, I don’t want to be fifth, I want to be fighting for podiums and be back to where I feel I should be.

Is their extra motivation to be the man to put Honda back on top?

I feel I’ve already been that guy before…In 2019, everybody had written off that bike, but I won on it. I had a teammate who had WSB podiums, and I nearly made the showdown, I should have made the showdown but lacked a bit of experience. In 2020 with the new bike, I won two races in the opening weekend, so I’ve been that person before and there’s no reason why I can’t do it again.

What’s a good season for Andrew Irwin?

Being back consistently fighting for the podium and always being inside the top five, that’s what I need to be doing. Yes, who knows in racing, because it’s such a funny game, but that’s what I need to be doing. I need to be up there, week in, week out. Let’s take Honda from their worst-ever BSB season to their best…

And the consistency could be key, couldn’t it?

That keeps you in it, especially with the points system now. BSB is super competitive, I don’t think anybody is going to win every single race. The change has been good because nobody likes seeing the same thing over and over again. It’s not just the riders, it’s the fans watching it too.

The Showdown had run its course. On social media, one person had his opinion of it and then everybody did. Whereas now, nobody can say the points ruined the championship because it came to half-a-point and I haven’t seen anybody complain about the points system. Before, you’d have read negativity over the Showdown. Whenever there’s no negativity, you might not hear any positive things, but if you hear nothing that usually means it’s working.

Pick up a copy of this week’s MCN for exclusive interviews with Honda Racing UK’s 2024 BSB and Road Racing riders.