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In the press release issued two days ago it was clear that the reason that led him to abandon Honda Racing UK was the opportunity to undertake a "new challenge". A few hours later, the announcement of Andrew Irwin's arrival in Synetiq BMW arrived punctually. An agreement that lays the foundations for a solid project after a season that ended as "separated at home" in Havier Beltran's team, with the desire to bring the Munich manufacturer’s bike to the top of BSB British Superbike.
Farewell to Honda Racing UK
Again in the late evening. Andrew Irwin's competitive future was decided in a short time, within a few days. In the piece published on Wednesday we analysed the trend of the last few seasons of the 26-year-old from Carrickfergus, also putting forward some possible reasons that led him to make this decision. One thing is certain: as happened in MotoGP with Marc and Alex Marquez (albeit with different timing and ways), having two brothers in the same team did not prove productive in terms of results. Ending 2019 with his first career victory in the UK top class in Thruxton, Andrew, with the introduction of the CBR 1000RR-R SP, then saw his much more experienced brother Glenn Irwin arrive in the garage.
Although the age difference between them is minimal (1990 vs 1994), during this crazy 2020 we clearly saw the different approach to the races of the two Carrickfergus natives: Glenn calm, attentive (almost always ..) and scrupulous , while Andrew fast but too prone to error. While the first round of the season had shown the potential of the younger of the brothers with a double win at Donington 'National', as the races went by Andrew soon slipped out of the fight for the title due to a series of errors and crashes. With Glenn in the running for the championship (he remained in the lead up to Oulton Park), the attentions of Havier Beltran's team turned more towards him. It was a bitter pill to swallow for poor Andrew Irwin, the protagonist of an end of year full of ups and downs. Too many cooks spoil the broth, as they say. Aware of not being the team's only benchmark rider, Andrew decided on a change of scenery following the two seasons spent defending the colours of Honda Racing UK.
The new challenge is called Synetiq BMW
An almost dramatic change that, on paper, can represent a new starting point for Andrew Irwin's career. Fresh from three successes in the season just ended, the 26-year-old opted for Synetiq BMW (one of the historical teams in BSB and run by Hector and Philip Neill), laying the foundations for a rather ambitious project: to amaze wherever possible and fight in every race for the highest step of the podium. Both sides are looking to make amends, 2021 must represent the year of the definitive leap in quality. At the same time, some of the attention of the public and professionals will be directed to the track debut of the brand new BMW M1000RR. A new bike that promises to be the challenge of his life for the young Andrew Irwin.
“I can’t wait to get started now on the all-new M 1000 RR – declared Andrew Irwin - I’m still young in terms of my Superbike career and not yet quite the finished article, but I’m hungry to learn and keep improving and together with the SYNETIQ BMW team; I believe we can do that.”
As we wait for the next moves, it is clear that the teams with the Bavarian company’s motorcycles are building a fleet of top-level riders. The launch of the new model seems to have attracted the interest of numerous protagonists of the UK domestic championship. Andrew Irwin has joined Xavi Fores and Peter Hickman in FHO Racing Team today and the second seat of Synetiq BMW and the two of OMG Racing are still free. The 2021 BSB British Superbike rider market is coming to a head and, if these are the conditions, the coming year will be full of excitement for fans.
