The traditional May Day Bank Holiday Bennetts British Superbike Championship round took
place this past weekend at Oulton Park, and it was a positive event across the board for
Team #109 at the Cheshire circuit. 2018 Dickies Junior Supersport champion Eunan
McGlinchey put the bad luck of Silverstone behind him to claim his first Pirelli National
Superstock 600 point scoring finish, and claiming a podium in the process. Graeme Irwin
also continued his solid progress in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 class, breaking
into the top twenty for the first time during qualifying, before taking twenty-fifth in the
feature race on Monday morning.
Twenty-one year old McGlinchey got his weekend off to a steady start on Saturday
morning, finishing the opening free practice session in twelfth position in what were damp
and difficult conditions, before drying out for the last ten minutes. Free practice two was
dry for the entirety, and following a few changes and experiments with the bike set up
McGlinchey finished the session inside the top fifteen, taking fourteenth position.
Qualifying was once again dry on Sunday afternoon, and McGlinchey really began getting
into his stride, taking over two seconds off his time from the day before, and claiming
sixth position on the grid for Mondays sole Superstock 600 race. Following a good start
McGlinchey managed to slot in behind the leading group on the opening lap, and was
looking strong early on. Following a huge moment on the exit of Druids on the second lap,
McGlinchey did brilliantly to stay onboard the Team #109 Kawasaki. Having lost touch with
the leader following his save, the Aghadowey rider was involved in a fantastic battle for
the remaining two podium positions with the Triumph of Korie McGreevy and the Yamaha
of Aaron Clifford as the race progressed.
As the laps ticked by, McGlinchey’s times continued to improve and despite McGreevy and
Clifford’s best efforts, the Aghadowey rider managed to hold onto second position, to
score not only his first finish in the class, but also his first Pirelli National Superstock 600
podium. With twenty points to his name in the championship standings, the twenty-one
year old jumped straight into sixth in the championship standings, sixteen points behind
championship leader and third place finisher, Aaron Clifford.
Former British motocross champion Graeme Irwin continued his excellent progress this
following weekend onboard the Team #109 Kawasaki ZX-10RR. At just his second race
event in the British championship, and in what were tricky conditions throughout, Irwin
stayed consistent no matter what the weather, and never fell outside the top thirty across
all three days, in a class with just short of fifty entries.
Free practice one saw Irwin claim twenty-sixth position, before improving four places in
free practice two, taking over a second and a half off his lap time from the session
previous. Moving into qualifying the following day, Irwin continued to climb the standings
improving to twentieth position, not only claiming his best qualifying to date, but also his
best overall finish to date.
Monday morning saw a huge shower sweep across the Oulton Park track, and with the
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race being the first on the timetable for the day, it proved
an extremely difficult race for Irwin on the Kawasaki. Despite it being his first race in the
wet, Irwin managed a solid run in the tough conditions, and still managed to finish inside
the top thirty, taking twenty-fifth position on the day, capping off a solid event for the
Carrickfergus rider.
Next up on the calendar for Team #109 is the third round of the Bennetts British
Superbike calendar, which will take place at the historic Donington Park. The Cork based
outfit will also be back to a full stable with the return of the Dickies Junior Supersport
class, bringing the team back up to a four bike outfit for the event.
Team #109 would like to thank all their sponsors for their support, Liftrite.ie, Team Green
Kawasaki, Kinsale Hotel & Spa, MMD Construction, EMS Copiers, Ohlins Racing, CMRVC,
Glenn Irwin, Fuchs Silkolene, R&G, JOG Tuning, PP Tuning, Arrow Exhaust, JTec Sports,
SBS Brakes, Gorman Crash Repairs, Jim McCann & Sons Family Butchers, James McCann
Photography, Spears Racing, HEL Performance, Unlimited Industries, and Samco Sport.
Photographs courtesy of James McCann | @jmccannphoto | www.jmccannphoto.com
ENDS
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