MX Diary: Pirelli Masters crown for Irwin
By Team TMX on 3rd Aug 16
Graeme Irwin (Buildbase Honda) raced to a double win at round five of the Pirelli British Masters at Pontrilas on Sunday to clinch the Pro MX1 title with one round still to run.
Irwin has controlled the series pretty much from the first round – taking four overalls – and his latest maximum points haul puts him out of reach of his nearest rivals in the six-round series.
"I'm so happy,” he said. "I was really fast all day and won both races by a big margin. The bike was faultless, the team was brilliant and I'm delighted to wrap up the title with one round still to go.
"It's actually my first major championship which feels great. There wasn't a great deal of pressure on me but what there was has now completely gone. I'll be celebrating tonight.”
In the Pro MX2 class Martin Barr regained the series leader's red plate with a pair of typically rock-solid performances after his main title rival crashed out of race two. He's now lined up the team's second championship title at Whitby's spectacular Skelder Bank circuit on Sunday.
"The day's been positive for me,” said Barr. "I was quickest MX2 rider in qualifying and second overall. "I struggled a little bit with the track today but all-in-all I'm happy to go away with the championship and I'm looking forward to the final round when hopefully I can wrap it up.”
Team owner Dave Thorpe was full of praise for both his riders in action at the Herefordshire circuit.
"I'm absolutely delighted for Graeme,” said DT. "He's put his heart and soul into the Pirelli Masters and he was unbelievably dominant today as he has been at most rounds. We're really, really pleased for him, his mechanic Rob Boseley and the whole team.
"Martin rode with his head today. Neither race was without incident for him and I know he felt the track was quite gnarly so when he saw the pitboard that Bryan MacKenzie was out he shifted his focus from where he was in the race to where he would be in the championship.”
