Shane Byrne made it a brace of second places at Donington Park at the weekend in the final round before the showdown gets underway.

Byrne was to finish behind Ryuichi Kiyonari in both races as he goes into the final three rounds with a 26 point lead over Josh Brookes and 27 over Kiyonari with the podium points taken into consideration.

Having started third on the grid for race one Shakey went on to have another epic battle with title rival Kiyonari.

They swapped the lead and then again and the final two laps Shakey made the move but Kiyo really didn’t want to relinquish his lead. In the end Shakey had to settle for second place and more podium credits going into the showdown races.

Speaking after race one, Shane said: “It was great fun and I really enjoyed that race! I tried to lead and set a pace that was decent at the start, but I didn’t want to ruin the tyre and then have nothing left when Kiyo did come passed. As it turned out when he did, he passed at a place where I thought I was fairly good and I was like ‘oi hold on a minute’ as I thought I was good on the brakes at that point!

“I followed him for a few laps and the pace slowed a bit so I just stayed calm and then three or four laps from the end I passed him again and then he came straight back ahead. I then sat there until the end and stayed right on his back wheel. I had a plan which I won’t share in case he beats me again in race two, but I ruined my own plan by being a bit over keen!

“In the last few corners it was obviously I wasn’t close enough to have a lunge into the Loop, but it would have been pathetic of me to finish that close and not have a go at the last corner so I tried! I went up the inside and I felt I had got the bike stopped just enough, but then he came back underneath. I then tried to outdrive him and then I got on the throttle and lost the rear and got myself into a bit of a pickle and he beat me to the line. It was a fantastic race and now I can’t wait until race two.”

Race two saw the pair continue their war for four, as they head into the end of season showdown rounds. Byrne sat behind Kiyo for most of the race. Meanwhile further down the field there was some fantastic racing for the top ten positions.

As Shakey looked for a way past Kiyo as the race drew to its conclusion Josh Brookes who missed out on podium points in race one came alive and began to close on the lead duo.

Going into the final lap it was still all to play for with Kiyo leading and Byrne just behind him with Brookes just behind him. Kiyo went wide just before the final corner but Shakey couldn’t do anything about it and he took he took second place for the second time in the weekend.

Giving his thoughts after the weekends racing, Byrne added: “Today’s first race was great fun and I really, really enjoyed it. The temperature was hotter than it had been all weekend so I tried to lead and set a good pace but not one that was too quick so it would damage the tyres for the end of the race.

“When Kiyo came by, I decided to sit on his back wheel and I had a plan to try and beat him which didn’t quite happen. I couldn’t be that close to him and not have a go though so dived up the inside at Goddards on the final lap only to run wide. I tried to cut back but was a bit eager on the throttle so had to take second place. In the second race, Kiyo set an incredible pace and my plan was to overtake him on the last lap at the Old Hairpin but I nearly launched myself into orbit coming out of Redgate and that pretty much ended my chances.

“I pushed over the limit to try and close back up to him and whilst I got close it wasn’t close enough. It was a bit frustrating not to win this weekend but I’ve extended my lead in the Podium Points and we go into the Showdown in a strong position so thank you to all my team for doing a great job again.”

The season heads into the final three rounds of the season in the showdown and that gets underway from Assen in two weeks’ time.

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