Glenn Irwin led from start to finish to clinch his second win of the bank holiday weekend British Superbikes round at Oulton Park as he moved to the top of the championship standings.
The Northern Irishman, who will compete at his home North West 200 road racing meeting later this week, produced a flawless ride on his PBM Ducati to hold off last year’s champion Tommy Bridewell with Christian Iddon taking the final podium place.
After his Race One win on Sunday, Irwin’s latest victory means he heads Kyle Ryde by one point in the overall standings, with overnight leader Ryan Vickers now two points off the pace.
Danny Kent is three points behind series leader Irwin after finishing fourth in Monday’s opening 12-lap race, with Ryde and Jason O’Halloran completing the top six.
After starting on pole, Irwin held a narrow lead over Iddon for the opening eight laps before Honda rider Bridewell moved into second spot.
Bridewell briefly closed to within a bike length of Irwin on lap nine but the Northern Irishman produced a composed closing three laps to finish 0.352 seconds ahead of the 2023 champion, with Iddon a further 0.234 seconds back in third as he held off Kent for fourth.
The Carrickfergus man’s victory was his fifth win in his last six races at the Cheshire circuit.
Irwin’s brother Andrew Irwin secured a points finish in 14th place as he moved up to 17th in the championship standards.
The Irwins and all the other competitors will be back in action in Race Three at 16:15 BST.