ABOUT
PBM
As the most successful team in the British Superbike Championship history, the squad entered a new era in 2024 when it became PBM Racing. Twins Jordan and Frank Bird now co-own and run the squad, created almost 30-years ago by their father, the late Paul Bird.
In 2025, the team is coming out fighting as it bids for its 10th BSB title, with Northern Ireland’s Glenn Irwin back on board the Ducati Panigale V4R.
North West 200 Winners
8
Isle of Man TT Winners
4
Macau Grand Prix Winners
4
BSB POLE POSITIONS
147
MACAU GRAND PRIX WINNERS
4
NORTH WEST 200 WINNERS
6
BSB POLE POSITIONS
87
ISLE OF MAN TT WINNERS
4
Starting life in the late 1990s, Paul Bird’s team stepped up to the British Superbike Championship in 2000 with rider James Toseland, before claiming its first crown in 2002 with Steve Hislop. A year later, the squad signed Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and together they reclaimed the title while also winning the Supersport series that year with Stuart Easton.
At this time, the squad was also a major force on the road racing scene, with John McGuinness and Joey Dunlop taking TT wins and sealing victory at the North West 200, Daytona and Macau.
The squad moved to World Superbikes in 2008, running the official Kawasaki team and celebrating a win with Tom Sykes. After four years, the team headed to MotoGP where it spent a further three seasons running a PBM Aprilia in the CRT class with James Ellison.
The team continued to win races and titles in BSB but in 2008, a move to the World Superbike Championship beckoned for PBM who ended up running the official Kawasaki team, taking a victory with Tom Sykes. After four years, they then moved into the MotoGP paddock for three years to run a self-built PBM Aprilia in the CRT class where James Ellison was classified as a CRT race winner.
Whilst still running a MotoGP team, PBM also returned to the British Superbike Championship full time in 2014, which they won again with Byrne, and have since added three more titles to their unprecedented successes with Shakey landing the crown in 2017 before Scott Redding claimed it in 2019 and Josh Brookes in 2020 to make it an unprecedented eight in total so far.
With more BSB victories in 2021 with Christian Iddon and in 2022 with Tom Sykes aboard the factory-backed Ducati Panigale V4R, 2023 was a memorable season for PBM after signing Tommy Bridewell and Glenn Irwin.
The pair were involved in one of the most dramatic title chases ever in the history of Bennetts BSB which went right down to the wire in the very last race and saw Bridewell pip his teammate Irwin to the crown by a mere half a point.
Sadly, team owner Paul Bird wasn’t there to see his team clinch their ninth crown having passed away in September but the legacy he created continues with daughter Jordan and her twin brother Frank taking up the challenge. 2024 sees the new era emerge with Glenn Irwin as a sole rider aboard Ducati machinery whose aim it is to win the British Superbike Championship after narrowly missing out the two previous seasons.
Glenn will also contest the International North West 200 as he hopes to continue his unbeaten run of eight Superbike races at the event. Frank Bird will also continue his four-wheeled career having been announced as one of the prestigious AMG Junior drivers for the official Mercedes AMG Motorsport Team and will be contesting a number of events in Europe in a factory-supported Mercedes AMG GT3.
During this time, it also celebrated its third BSB title with Byrne in 2012, followed by a fourth in 2014. Byrne and PBM’s series domination continued as together, they claimed back to back titles in 2016 and 2017.
In 2019, Bird signed MotoGP pilot Scott Redding who took the squad to title number seven and a year later, Josh Brookes – who’d finished runner-up in 2019 – secured the eighth win for the squad.
More race wins followed with Christian Iddon in 2021 and Tom Sykes on the factory-backed Ducati Panigale V4R in 2022, before a bitter-sweet 2023.
After signing Tommy Bridewell and Glenn Irwin, the pair quickly proved unstoppable and took the title fight to the wire, with Bridewell eventually taking the crown by just half a point in the final race of the year.
Sadly, Paul Bird didn’t get to see his team clinch its ninth championship. The highly respected team owner and businessman passed away in September, a month before the final round. He was just 56.
However, the legacy he started continues, with his children Jordan and Frank now taking charge. In 2024, the new-look PBM Racing Team made its debut with Irwin as the team’s sole rider. After cleaning-up in the Superbike class at the North West 200, Irwin – who has since retired from the roads – finished the BSB season in third place.
This year, Irwin and the team return with the Ducati Panigale V4R for another season in the world’s leading domestic Superbike series, with the focus fully on clinching title number 10.
Away from motorcycle racing, the PBM name has a long and respected heritage in car racing, with Frank continuing to fly the flag in the world of four wheels as one of the UK’s leading sportscar pilots.
