All good things come to those who wait…
In the case of Glenn Irwin, he has had the best part of three years to contemplate his debut on the most challenging and unforgiving road race circuit in the world.
The Northern Irishman had been scheduled to make his Isle of Man TT bow in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic intervened.
Now the 32-year-old has been making up for lost time during a productive qualifying week in which he has incrementally improved his lap speeds around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course.
An impressive circuit of 122.62mph in Sunday’s opening practice session underlined the potential of one of the most high-profile newcomers to race at the event in recent years.
In turn, the 124mph, 125mph and 126mph barriers were then broken, those benchmarks being surpassed by a stunning personal best 128.268mph on his Superbike Honda Fireblade in the sixth and final qualifying session on Friday.
That inched him close to the record lap for a newcomer set by his British Superbikes rival Peter Hickman – 129.104 from 2014.
With a pedigree which includes six individual British Superbike race wins, a best overall finish of third in the BSB series, six North West 200 Superbike victories and a Macau Grand Prix success, it is not hard to understand why his first Isle of Man appearance has been so keenly anticipated.
“I’ve prepared the best I can, put the maximum effort in,” said Irwin in reference to having watched countless on-board laps, made several visits to the island and the advice he has taken on board from the likes of his vastly experienced and successful Honda team-mate John McGuinness.
“I won’t know how prepared I am until I get through the event, whether I prepared enough,” the County Antrim-based rider told ITV4’s preview programme for this year’s races.
“The last two years I’ve enjoyed my time in British Superbikes with Honda. We have made good inroads and put together a proper championship challenge in 2020.
“There’s not too much I can carry from Brands Hatch to the Isle of Man TT but it has allowed the Honda Fireblade to be in year three of its development before taking it road racing and that has probably been a blessing in disguise.
“The bike is better now than what it was two years ago.
“I’ve never done a time trial race in my life so it is very different.
“The North West is a really fast track, as parts of the TT are too, but at the North West, where it’s fast it’s easy to go flat out. The straights are straight.
“Here there are lots of kinks that don’t really have corner names but at certain speeds they very much become corners so it takes a lot of homework.
“My preparation has been knowing the geography of the circuit, kind of finding my way round the island too to make the week a bit more manageable and easier.
“John is a mega team-mate. Who wouldn’t want to get up and close and see how John McGuinness operates at the TT?
“He understands what it takes to win here but he also understands what it takes to be a newcomer, to get through those early years.
“Those first couple of years are important to respect this place.”
Safety ‘an absolute priority’
Irwin made his road race debut at the Ulster Grand Prix back in 2014, with his maiden appearance at the North West 200 following a year later and a foray to the Macau GP coming in 2016.
He began this season with a treble at the opening BSB round at Silverstone and notched a Superbike double at the recent North West 200.
It is his first Superbike TT race on Saturday that is uppermost in his thoughts now though.
“First and foremost this year I want to enjoy the event, have a great time with Honda, the most successful manufacturer and the most successful team here as well.
“The absolute priority has to be to come home safe. There are other little goals in my head but I will keep those to myself until after race week.”
