Irwin brothers begin new Superbike season at Silverstone

The Irwin brothers, Rhys and Caolán, were in action at Silverstone over the Easter weekend in the first round of the British Superbike Championship.

Rhys Irwin, who is riding for Astor JJR Triumph team for the 2022 season in the Premier Supersport class, took his bike to qualify on the third row of the grid and finish fifth in his maiden race of 2022.

Rhys moved up to fourth in race two before he crashed out.

The Triumph 765 is to be developed over the 2022 season and is not expected to be a Championship contending bike in the early part of the season,

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An Astor JJR representative said: “Rhys and the team have exceeded any expectation this weekend. Due to difficulties with getting the bike race ready we have had only  minimal testing but we know we have made the right choice in Rhys and he will make the best of the bike.”

Caolán Irwin, competing for R&R Racing, also in the Premier Supersport class, is aboard a Yamaha.

This is his first year in this class and took his bike home in 10th place on Sunday's race.

“I have a really good set up this year with R&R Racing,” Caolán Irwin said.

“At the minute we still are having some set up issues with the bike but I really enjoyed racing this weekend am really happy with my performance on Sunday.”