PBM Ducati’s Glenn Irwin has taken his maiden Macau GP victory today in a race that was red-flagged after six laps following a serious crash.

Irwin crossed the line after 14 minutes of racing with a 1.1s lead over two-time winner Peter Hickman as veteran Michael Rutter dealt with the challenge of Martin Jessopp to end in third pace.

The youngster becomes the first Northern Irishman to win at Macau since Phillip McCallen in 1996. Irwin and Hickman had opened a seven-second lead over Rutter’s SMT/Bathams BMW when the red flags came out with Jessopp a little way further back.

Padgetts Honda’s Conor Cummins had slipped back to fifth after a good start as Gary Johnson had made his way from tenth on the grid to sixth. Scarborough legend Dean Harrison had made the best start, rocketing through from 18th place to seventh ahead of Lee Johnston, David Johnson and Danny Webb.