It was like two heavyweight boxers at the end of a 200mph bout on country roads as Glenn Irwin and Alastair Seeley awaited the victor of the final Superbike race at the North West 200.
Tense isn’t the word as confusion reigned around the paddock, and a few verbals were swapped as both riders waited for confirmation of the results.
It came after the race was cut short due to a red flag, and Irwin, who had crossed the line in the lead just before the red flag came out, was in no doubt as to who the winner was.
Seeley and his team TAS Racing felt otherwise and thought the result should have been taken from the previous lap, in which their man led.
It led to one of the strangest finishes to a race that anybody could remember as everyone stood around waiting for news as emotions ran high.
Then, after what felt like the longest of waits, it was confirmed that PBM Ducati rider Irwin, 33, was the winner and he took his eighth Superbike victory in a row.
It led to Irwin running around with his trademark celebrations, involving the crowd who threw him up in the air.
“I was across the line in the lead. I have won races under red flag under red flag conditions but I’m sure it was a bit murky,” Irwin said.
“I took the lead, pulled the pin and the race was stopped the following lap. I felt incredible and the bike was fantastic.”
After words were swapped between riders and teams, Irwin told BBC Sport that he regretted some of what was said, including a remark on TAS Racing’s Philip and Hector Neill and their desire to win.
“I want to reiterate, I want to take my comments back [About TAS Racing]. In the heat of the moment you can say things.
“TAS Racing were just looking for a way they could win the race.”
It was the latest flash point between the pair in an action-packed day. In the first race, which Irwin also won after a red flag, Seeley took exception to a move from his rival into Ballysally early in the race.
Ballysally isn’t a traditional overtaking spot and the pair touched, a move Irwin later apologised for.
Seeley, who had earlier said Irwin he needed to calm down when making moves as it was a road race, returned the favour in the second Superbike race as he made a similar move on Irwin at Ballysally – this time without contact.
While now friends, Seeley and Irwin have a bit of on-track history at the event, which stems back to the latter’s maiden last-gasp win at the event in 2017.
Once everything had calmed down, the pair shared a smile and a handshake on the podium. Two riders whose drive to win at their home is almost unrivalled on the grid, but also share the upmost respect for each other.
Irwin bounces back to win
It had been a strange week for Irwin, who came to the event with high hopes but instability problems hindered his running on Tuesday before an airbag problem on his race suit and lack of running on Thursday saw him qualify a lowly seventh.
For a man who had dominated the Superbike class since 2017, it seemed unlikely he would repeat his ‘big bike’ heroics this year.
Irwin himself said he had cancelled even bigger celebrations because he was so low in confidence earlier on the week.
But, one thing we have learnt, is you can never count Irwin out.
“Never write me off. I said to everyone that I didn’t feel good coming into today,” he added, thanking his PBM Team for going “above and beyond” in helping turning his fortunes around.
“We were really lost on Tuesday and Thursday.
“We knew why, but every team has a budget and it wasn’t part of our plan to do what we done today in terms of engines and stuff.
“It’s been an amazing week. The guys – Dean Harrison, Michael Dunlop, Alastair Seeley and Davey Todd – the level has been so high.
“We’ve won in the wet, we’ve won when we’ve led from the front, we’ve won on a last-lap dash and we have won in a group, so it’s ticking boxes off for me.”
‘BSB title the next target’
Irwin came into the meeting leading the British Superbike Championship after a stellar start to the season on his Ducati return.
Now the North West 200 success is back in his hands, his focus was immediately at the next BSB round at Donington Park as he searches for that elusive championship title.
“The next step, there is only one more target for me this year and that is to win the British Superbike Championship,” Irwin added.
“I arrived here thinking of Donington Park which was annoying me. It was good and bad, I wanted to win this too but Donington is very important.
“We’ll carry that good feeling. That’s seven podiums out of eight races on the PBM Ducati this year between roads and circuits, let’s keep going.”
