Six-time North West 200 winner and proud Northern Irish rider Glenn Irwin was excited to finally have his first IOMTT experience in 2022. Irwin was a Honda factory team rider alongside John McGuinness for the event, and absorbed as much of the vast wealth of knowledge from his teammate that he could.
Irwin also utilized all the other tools at his disposal in 2022, including studying state-of-the-art video games and onboard video footage. Sure enough, whatever combination of studying all the things and sheer talent and experience that Irwin brought to the table worked wonders. In June, 2022, Glenn Irwin officially set a new IOMTT Fastest Newcomer lap record of 129.85 miles per hour.
He was also the highest-placed newcomer in the Superbike TT race in 2022, coming in eighth place overall in the class. Unfortunately, he was later forced to retire from the Superstock and Senior TT events—but it was still an undeniably impressive debut.
What of Irwin’s plans for 2023? On November 1, 2022, the racer officially announced that he’s sitting out for the 2023 IOMTT. He just signed a new contract to race in British Superbikes with the Paul Bird Ducati team for next year, which is a factor. However, an even bigger consideration is the fact that he’s expecting his third child very soon, who’s due sometime in the middle of this November.
“I was told by Paul [Bird] there was no TT and there are two ways you can look at that. You can be selfish and say, ‘F*** no, I want to do the TT’. Of course, I enjoyed doing it, it was incredible but there was a golden ticket in terms of the BSB title above me that is keeping me away. I don’t know if that's short term or forever, you can’t say. But as a father it is the right choice,” Irwin told UK publication BikeSport News.
“I love Twitter and all the people that say I should stay where I am because I could win as many TTs as John McGuinness. I say to that, ‘How many kids do you have, mate?’ That’s not a good option for me as a dad,” he continued.
It’s easy for spectators to have opinions on what they’re seeing. Ultimately, though, it’s up to racers what they want to do, and what roads they feel like going down for personal goals, a living, or entertainment—both their own, as well as others. We wish Irwin good luck on his future endeavors.
