The new owners of the late Cumbrian motorsport star Paul Bird’s British Superbikes team have spoken of their aim to emulate his success.

Hager PBM Ducati are now owned by Paul’s son and daughter, Frank and Jordan, as the new Bennetts British Superbike Championship season gets under way this weekend.

It is the first campaign for the team following Paul Bird’s death last year, with Glenn Irwin at the forefront of their bid to land a ninth title.

The first races get under way at Circuito de Navarra in Spain on Sunday.

Jordan Bird said: “It’s been an extremely tough winter for us so arriving here in Spain was a real milestone.

Testing has gone exactly as we planned, we did our own thing and made some really good headway with both 2023 and 2024 parts.

“Now it’s for the fun part, the racing. Hager PBM Ducati are as ready as ever and we can’t wait to add to my late father’s success.”

Irwin just missed out on top spot of the combined official test times ahead of the championship’s opening races.

He hopes to make up for the disappointment of finishing runner-up the last two seasons.

“I’m really excited to start our first race weekend as part of the new era for the Hager PBM Racing Team,” said Irwin.

“They say you’re as good as your last race and I won that at Brands Hatch last year so I’m feeling confident.

“I must praise the team for doing a tremendous job to get to where we are today, everyone is working so hard and I’m proud to be a part of this.

“We’ve had a huge program to get through in testing so it’s been busy but at the same time we’re proved we are competitive.

“We know how strong the opposition is but I feel as if we can challenge for the victories this weekend as we’ve done a lot of hard work. Roll on this year’s championship!”