PBM Team talk at Motorcycle Live

WorldSBK commentator Greg Haines chats with PBM Team’s Glenn Irwin and co-team owner Jordan Bird on the Ducati stand at Motorcycle Live. 

Thanks for joining us here on the Ducati stage at Motorcycle Live. First of all could you give us an insight, what’s it like running a Superbike team in the top British racing championship?

Jordan: It’s pretty good, it’s exciting. Every day is different, especially when you work with Glenn! This year has been really good though. It’s been a challenge stepping up, my brother and I, as we had to do so quickly with the passing of my dad. But I think I’ve found my feet now and it’s all guns blazing for next year. 

I was having a close look at Glenn’s bike on the Ducati stand and it’s nice how you’ve got Birdy on the bike.

Jordan: So that was my dad’s signature, that was his little trademark. So, we’ll keep that on there forever. 

It’s really nice to see. And obviously we have to talk about the new two-year deal with Glenn.

Jordan: I don’t know if I’m brave or stupid! No, I think continuity for both sides of the party is brilliant. Next year we’ll be on the same bike as this year, with some upgrades. And in 2026 they’ll be the exciting new project. We’re really excited, and we know how both of us work now so I think it’s going to be a good couple of years.

The last three years have been phenomenal really. You’ve been so close. Could 2025 be the year?

Glenn: There’s no reason why not. As Jordan says, continuity with the team, continuity with Ducati, it’s the brand I’ve had most success within my career. We know how the championship’s been over the last couple of years. In 2023 we very much could have won it, it didn’t happen and that’s fine. This year we were still very fast on days but not consistent enough, and not enough podiums. So, I know what I have to work on. 

The team have already invested heavily. It’s hard with the bike when you don’t have a new model, you’re looking at ways to develop something you already have in a great window. But they’ve invested heavily lately with some ideas that Petrucci has used in World Superbikes with great success. It’s nice knowing that you have something coming.

I think with the tyre issue, we will have something better next year. Not as good as before but I don’t need too much, just a little bit. But I’ve the right mindset and I can focus solely on BSB now.

Let’s talk about your roads career. I’m sure Jordan would agree it’s been absolutely fantastic with the triple win at Oulton Park and then you went to the roads with the North West and won that, eleven wins in a row. The most successful rider there. What a record Glenn, some amazing memories and achievements.

Glenn: Yeah, that week we won three races at Oulton Park and went to the North West and won six races in six days. 

Jordan: It was chaos! 

Glenn: I nearly bankrupted the team with the bonus money! That was an amazing week, and it was only round two or three of Jordan and Frank running the team full time, we’d done Navarra and the next six races we won. We won a further race at Donington a week later, and we’d won seven out of nine races in two weeks. An incredible achievement. 

My roads career was a lot of stuff that I never dreamed of. I never thought I’d compete at the Isle of Man TT. But as a dad that wasn’t something I wanted to continue. The North West 200 is where I kind of made my name. I had eleven consecutive victories; eight with Ducati, eight with PBM, three on the v-twin, and five on the V4 R.

We also went to Macau together and set the fastest ever lap, and won Macau. Great achievements. Way more than I ever thought, I never thought I’d even turn a wheel in road racing and thanks to Jordan, Frank, to Paul, and everyone at PBM, we wrote history together. To step out and look back at what we achieved is a really nice feeling.

Having the family there it must put a different perspective on it when you’re going around the Isle of Man or Macau?

Glenn: It’s hard at the Isle of Man. You have breakfast in the morning. There were a lot of documentary cameras around the house And I’m looking at my son and you don’t know if you’re going to have dinner with him. As much as riding the bike is amazing to me, it’s not worth having that feeling. It’s genuinely what you feel. I said to John McGuinness, the brain is saying why are you doing this and the heart is saying you love to be here. He said you just get used to it because that feeling is not going to go away, it’d been like that for him for 20-odd years. But hearing that was point that I said this isn’t for me. 

So, you’re really having breakfast thinking you’re not going to see your son again? That’s scary.

Glenn: You’re a human being. I think people look at motorcycle racers like we’re Power Rangers. But we have the same thoughts as everyone else here. I guess it’s maybe like going into war? Probably excited, but anxious. You get it when you go road racing. Thankfully we’ve had a lot of success, we’re all happy we’ve won. Usually when the week’s over, me, the team owners, and mechanics, we’re all happy we’re coming home. Maybe that’s part of the addiction of road racing. 

Jordan: I think it’s important to know when you’ve got what you want out of something. For us, as a team with Glenn, we’ve achieved what we wanted. And I think quit while you’re ahead. No, not even quit, but finish at the top. And as far as I’m concerned if Glenn doesn’t want to do the North West, then we won’t be there. It’s his bike, it’s his team. We’re all there for him. I’m happy with the decision he made, and it came at the right time as well. 

Bearing in mind what Glenn just said Jordan, what was it like for you to be watching? Glenn, you’re in control, you’re doing something, but for you Jordan there’s not actually anything you can do while the race is on.

Jordan: As a woman I’m a bit of a control freak. I do everything that I can off track, and then it’s down to Glenn after that. The nerves are very, very different in road racing. It was actually my first North West, it was always a boy’s trip, so I was never on that one before. But the nerves are definitely very different. It’s sort of an elephant in the room that nobody ever speaks about. We all know exactly how everybody is feeling, but it’s a feeling that if you could bottle it up and sell it, you’d be very, very rich.

I can imagine. What’s BSB been like then with one rider? We all know about that fight and amazing season with Tommy you had in 2023 Glenn. But what’s it like with just the one rider in the team?

Jordan: For me it’s not changed much, although it’s definitely cheaper! It’s a really difficult one because everybody wants to have two bikes, you want the presence of two bikes there. But you can only win the championship with one person, you don’t need two bikes to win a championship. For me, putting all eggs into one basket with Glenn wasn’t a difficult thing. He knows us, we know him. For me to establish myself as a team owner it was definitely the right thing. It was more contained, so you can keep more on top of it. And there’s still a great fight whether you have a teammate or not. It’s still BSB at the end of the day. 

How close was this to all stopping, there was obviously a lot of talk with the loss of your dad and a delayed 2024. There were rumours of Glenn going over to America, all sorts of things. How close was it to just all ending?

Jordan: We singed our contract in March, so it was all very uncertain. At one point towards the end of the 2023 season it wasn’t going to happen. There were family issues, everybody knows what it’s like to lose somebody, it was really challenging. But for my brother Frank and I it was never an option to stop, it’s in our DNA. My grandad on my mum’s side had a team back in the day. He’s got his name on the BSB trophies, my dad’s got his name there, and it was time for third generation. 

We’re the youngest team owners in history, the first third generation, the first brother and sister duo. Ending it was never an option.

It was just finding the partners to come along because it’s no secret that it costs a fortune to do what we do, and to do it properly as well. It was a challenge, but it’s definitely been worth it.

Well congratulations again, it’s been phenomenal. And there’s more to come, you can sense it. Glenn, with regards to the current Showdown format, we’ve had the closest two seasons ever.

Glenn: I’m happy with whatever the rules are. To be honest BSB is a show. And the healthier that that show is, the better it is for the teams, the better it is for the riders, and the better for the fans. If we can arrive at the penultimate round, or the final round, with more than one or two guys that cannot just mathematically win but can very realistically win the championship than I think that’s better for everyone. If you dominate all year, you perhaps might not have the gap that you would have at the end, but I don’t really look at the rules for stuff like that. 

The team go racing to win. I go racing to win. And I think we work well because of that. PBM is all about winning and I always go 110%. So, whatever way the point system is, it is what it is. To be honest I’m probably quite glad Thruxton is in the middle of the year because if it was 35 points for a win at Thruxton I think we would be leaving in a bad situation. Rule are rules, regulations are regulations. They change every year, but I don’t lose much sleep over it to be honest. 

Talking of not losing much sleep you’re into your meditation now aren’t you and keeping things calm. On the headstock of your bike on the stand you have ‘You must simply be awake and relaxed’ which you told us is a lyric from a song. But you’ve got into meditation and keeping calm, haven’t you?

Glenn: I guess we’re all at our best when we’re relaxed, whether it’s riding a bike, competing in sport, running a team, doing day-to-day work, being a parent. When we’re calm and relaxed, we can take a step back, we can be the best versions of ourselves. 

It’s something that I kind of found myself on this journey two years ago. When I was talking on the stage with Jamie Whitham and brother Andrew we were talking about self-belief and it’s the hardest thing you can get. I look at Andrew and think I would love to have your talent. But it works for me. If you visualise something, you think about it all the time, picture it, feel it, if you sit and meditate and be present in that moment, you can attract things into your life. 

Jordan: If something works you can see it works. And you can see in Glenn’s eyes when it’s his day, and on his day he is unbeatable. So, whatever is needed, whatever Glenn needs to do, I'm fully on board with it.

Glenn: I have no doubt I’ll be a Superbike champion. You can’t put a timeline on it, but I have a great feeling it is all part of my story. In 2023 I lost by half a point. People ask how you get over that. Well, there’s nothing to get over. It was what it was. It wasn’t meant to be. But with PBM for the next two years, and if I was a betting man which I used to be, I’d put a pound on it. My time will come.

Jordan, what’s the role for you on a race weekend? How easy it making sure everyone’s doing their job properly and motivating everyone?

Jordan: I’m very lucky. Most of our guys have been with us ten years plus so they know each other so well, and it kind of just happens. I’m very fortunate with my brother as he’s a car racer so he can see in the garage maybe what he would or wouldn’t be happy with if he was the one competing. So, I think we’re in a really fortunate position where we can have eyes from all angles.

Regarding BSB next year, Brad Ray’s back, Christian Iddon’s in green, there’s a new Ducati team being announced, there’s so many names in there Glenn, it’s going to be as open as ever.

Glenn: BSB is always a competitive championship where people don’t really want to leave. Christian is on the Kawasaki, and with Christian you always get 110%. He’ll have good days but maybe the package is not a title winner. Brad Ray’s a former champion and will be very strong. But will he be stronger than Kyle Ryde? I don’t think so. I think Kyle developed a lot this year. And Tommy is one of the most resilient characters on the grid. You could go on and on. I try not to pick one. I think we focus on bringing the best version of ourselves and playing as a team, that’s what can win the championship.