Glenn Irwin’s crystal clear stance after road racing retirement

Glenn Irwin says there is nothing that could make him return to the North West 200 after calling an end to his time as a competitor at the road race last year.

Although, at 34-years-old, Irwin – a record 11-time winner in the Superbike class at the North West – still has time remaining in his career, he is sure that his decision to end his time as a North West 200 rider will not be reversed in the future – but that does not necessarily mean his involvement will cease entirely.

“My time as a rider at the North West 200 has been and nothing will ever persuade me to go back and race roads,” Irwin told the Belfast Newsletter, speaking at the recent Irish Motorbike Awards.

“But what I would say is that road racing has given me some of the most special moments of my life.

“We’re blessed to have this heritage in our sport and to be a small part of the sport’s history and success is something I never thought [would happen].

“I never thought I would road race – we were never allowed to, but the North West has been amazing and I’ll stay involved hopefully long into the future.”

Irwin explained that the decision to stop racing the North West 200 came about after he crashed as a result of an oil leak at the BSB finale at Brands Hatch last year.

“I think I’ve said before that me and Laura [Irwin’s partner] were in Dublin the week after Brands Hatch and I’d had quite a bad oil leak at Brands, and a crash was caused outside of my control,” he said.

“It’s three times on short circuits I’ve had really bad crashes, with a handlebar breaking, front brake failing and now an oil leak, and I’ve eight or nine broken vertebrae all through things like this.

“Brands planted a little seed and we were in Dublin for Laura’s birthday weekend and I said ‘I’m done with the North West’.

“I think she thought there was something wrong with me but to be fair she said she would never encourage me to make that decision and that I had to make it myself.

“There was a little bit of talk between us and some realisations of what you have at home; I’ve three great kids and watching that (footage) back is amazing, memories that I’ll cherish forever.”