Paul Bird has revealed that leading lights Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell will race for his Eden-based Ducati team in next year’s British Superbike Championship.
As the curtain came down on the 2022 BSB campaign at Brands Hatch last weekend, Bird reflected on “probably one of the most disappointing seasons we’ve ever had”.
Despite a flicker of late season form and two race wins at Donington Park around the turn of this month for Tom Sykes, the Yorkshireman finished 12th in the overall rider standings. MCE Ducati team-mate and former title winner Josh Brookes ended the year in 14th spot.
“I picked the riders and I just got it wrong so I have to stand up and be accountable for that,” said Langwathby-based businessman Bird.
Yet the team owner has wasted no time as he targets a positive bounce back, and this week confirmed that Irwin and Bridewell would both be joining Paul Bird Motorsport in the MCE Ducati team.
Competing for Honda Racing UK, Irwin finished 2022 BSB runner-up behind champion Bradley Ray, while 34-year-old Bridewell also claimed a podium place, taking third overall for Oxford Products Racing Ducati.
Hailing from Wiltshire, Bridewell has left Oxford Products after four-and-a-half years, and is a veteran of 332 BSB races with seven victories.
Meanwhile, 32-year-old Irwin — who has 169 BSB races under his belt and seven wins — rode for Bird during 2016, 2017 and 2018. He had hinted after the Brands Hatch finale last weekend that he might be considering a move away from Honda.
“Both of them came to us. We didn’t go looking,” said a delighted Bird, who admitted he was “champing at the bit”.
“I’ve got an unbelievable line-up (for 2023) with two riders who want to ride for the team and a new bike coming out next year from Ducati.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a really strong team and have two good years ahead of us.
“We were up there challenging this year — we saw two weeks ago at Donington how good the bike was. That’s the same bike that was at race one, round one.
“We’ve got two exciting riders. You’ve only got to look at what happened at Brands Hatch at the weekend: Glenn Irwin won two races and Tommy Bridewell came from the pit lane, last, to finish fifth in one race. He was probably the rider of the year.
“Bridewell, when he was a young kid, 15 years old, he said to me ‘one day I’m going to ride for you, Birdy’, and now it’s going to happen!”
And of Irwin, Bird said: “It’s nice to have him back. He’s probably left what I would regard as one of the best, if not the best, teams in the paddock to come to us.”
