Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin has retained the Sunflower Trophy at Bishopscourt with a win today that added to his victory yesterday/

Irwin fought back from behind in the opening laps in very difficult conditions to lift the prestigious cup for the second year in succession.

Fellow Carrick man Alastair Seeley had a period at the front but on the sixth lap Irwin made his move to the front and never looked back.

“Another great event and I really enjoyed the weekend despite us having every mix of conditions so all credit to my team as the bike was faultless and we retained our title whilst rolling off the throttle,” said Irwin.

“This showed how well the Be Wiser Ducati has performed this weekend and apart from the minor technical issue in race two, it’s been fantastic. Special thanks to the boss, Paul Bird, for sending our team over here at his own expense, I owe him a beer.

“A big thanks also to the team’s sponsors, my sponsors, my amazing supporters, Metzeler tyres and my family. That’s twice in a row now so roll on the Macau GP next month and then all preparations start for 2018."

New Tyco BMW signing Michael Laverty put on a late charge after dropping back to sixth place regaining the runner up spot and closed in on Irwin in the final laps but it was to little to late and Irwin took the flag half a second in front of Laverty with Carl Philips MD Racing Suzuki holding off National Superstock 1000 champion Danny Buchan.

Earlier in the day former Sunflower double winner Danny Buchan had a comfortable win in the first Superbike race ahead of Irwin second and Ross Patterson on the Kingsbury packaging ZX10 a brilliant third and Michael Laverty fourth.

In the third Superbike race Michael Laverty took the win in a depleted field with Charles Stuart second and Ross Patterson in third.

Laverty was awarded man of the meeting as he retained his title as the most successful rider in the history of the Sunflower Trophy Races with one race win and two second place podiums in the Superbike class, taking his tally to 19 race victories at the annual event.

"We didn’t quite manage to win the big trophy this year in the wet conditions, but I was quite happy with how it went overall,” he said.  

“In race one this morning we ran with the intermediate rear, in the damp conditions, then the main feature race of the day was full wet conditions.  I led the race at the start but I didn’t have the grip in the first four or five laps, and fell back.  Once the tyre started to come to me I felt I could push really hard and I came through strong at the end, setting the fastest lap by quite a distance and although I caught back to Glenn, it was a little too late with it being only a 10 lap race.

“I’m really happy with how the bike worked for me in the rain, that was a weak point for me in 2016 but the team has really improved that in the last 12 months.  The Tyco BMW feels really nice in heavy rain conditions so I felt really comfortable and after the team made a small change for me I won the last Superbike race of the day.  

“Overall we were treating this as a test and we tried a lot of different settings.  We had a good run in the dry, a good run in the damp and a good run in the wet. I’m coming home with ‘Man of the Meeting’ so I’m happy with that.  It’s nice to be back home racing at Bishopscourt and want to thank everyone for all the support.”

In the Supersport races Jason Lynn took a victory in a close fought first race, the win giving him enough points to add the Irish Supersport Championship to his Ulster and Irish Masters wins.

Race two it was Lynns closest rival in the championship who took the win ahead of  Robert Kennedy with Lynn taking the third step on the podium.