Glenn Irwin says he cannot wait to get his British Superbike Championship career underway as he prepares to do his bit for Paul Bird Motorsport's first competitive outing with Ducati machinery.

The youngster steps up to Superbikes after race winning success in the British Supersport class, the 26 year-old joining four-time champion Shane Byrne in getting his hands on a full-factory supported Ducati 1199 Panigale R under the Be Wiser Ducati banner.

With a competitive and experienced field around him, though Irwin is excited for his debut he says he will be 'realistic' about his expectations and is setting his sights on the points first and foremost.

"Now that testing is over, I'm really looking forward to starting my MCE BSB career in earnest by getting out there and doing some racing on the Be Wiser Ducati. I'm absolutely buzzing for this opportunity, I have a great team around me and I'm feeling pretty good going into Silverstone.

"I won a Supersport race round there last year and finished on the podium in the other one so the track suits me, although this weekend is going to be a totally different challenge. The plan this weekend, first and foremost, is to score points and then to see how high up the leaderboard we can get, but it's a case of being realistic."