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Hawk Racing has announced reigning British Supersport champion Rhys Irwin will compete in the team’s charge in the 2026 British Superbike Championship.

Rhys first started riding a bike at the age of 3 on a Yamaha PW50 but became professional in 2008 where he competed in Motocross championships achieving multiple wins and successes through to the end of 2014. He moved on to road racing in 2016, and competed in the British Superteens Championship where he was runner up by 1 point, achieving 8 race wins and 20 podiums during this season. He also competed in the Irish 125 series where he was declared the champion with a 100% win record, achieving 19 race wins from 19 starts with 2 lap records. These results led him to be the runner up for the Irish Young Racer of the Year award.

2017 saw Rhys move to the British RRV 450 Aprilia challenge, collecting 6 race wins and gaining 2 lap records at Mondello Park in the Lightweight Supersport Category. At the end of this season, he once again became the runner up in the Irish Young Racer of the Year awards category. The next chapter for Rhys was a ride in the British Motostar Championship, for the 2018 season where he finished 6^th in the championship, with his best achievement being a start of last place (32^nd)at Brands Hatch to finish 3^rd and on the podium!

2019 saw a move to race in the British Talent Cup where the achievements in this class whilst competing at world events, just kept coming. He had front row starts at the Donington World Superbikes, SilverstoneMotoGP and Czech Republic Grand Prix of Brno MotoGP rounds, finishing in a podium position at the latter. He finished 5^th in the British Talent Cup series whilst back home, he became the youngest ever Supersport 600 race winner in the Irish Championship.

Rhys turned his attentions to the Pirelli British Superstock 600 championship in 2020, where he was crowned the top rookie in the championship, obtaining 3 race wins, 4 podiums and 3 pole positions. His final achievement of this season was winning the Young Irish Motorcyclist of the Year award, a great recognition of all his racing efforts over the years.

2021 was the season where Rhys ventured into the British Supersport series where he has remained until his championship win in 2025. In his rookie year, he finished 9th in the Championship with 3 front row starts, 1 pole position, 2 podiums, achieving the fastest ever supersportlap at Silverstone. He continued this success in 2022 being the only next generation supersport bike to finish on the podium in British Supersport, along with multiple front row starts.

Continuing in the supersport class, 2023 saw Rhys achieve countless race wins and podiums that lead to an opportunity to wildcard in the World Supersport race at Donington Park where he finished in the points. In addition to this, he made his Daytona 200 debut where sadly, he was forced to retire due to a mechanical failure but thoroughly enjoyed the experience and racing. 2024 proved to be a challenging start, however he teamed up with the Gearlink Kawasaki team at round 4 where he finish 9^th in the championship despite only competing in part of the season.

But 2025 became the ultimate year of racing achievement for Rhys where he won the Quattro Group British Supersport series and was crowned champion after coming out on top in a season-long battle with three former champions. He also won the Short Circuit Rider of the Year award at the Irish Motorbike Awards which took place in January 2026, and his reward for all this hard work and effort, a ride in the British Superbike Championship with Hawk Racing!

“I couldn’t be more excited to be stepping up into BSB with a team that has a history of supporting some of the best young riders in superbike racing.

“Winning the championship last season was a dream come true for me and securing this ride is another one.

“I’m so happy to be making my debut in BSB and really looking forward to what the team and I can achieve together.”

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