Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne put in two faultless performances at Snetterton on Sunday with the Be Wiser Ducati ace winning both MCE British Superbike Championship races to move up to second in the Championship table after round five.Having claimed pole position the previous day, and set the fastest time in every single session, the Sittingbourne rider was clearly in top form on the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R and in confident mood as the field lined up for the first 16-lap race although a slightly sluggish start saw him complete the first lap in fourth place.

However, the five-times and defending champion was simply biding his time and just a lap later he was up into second before grabbing the lead and aided by a number of fastest laps, he was never challenged and he went on to take a comfortable victory by over three seconds from Josh Brookes.

The 40 year old started the second race from pole position once more and slotted into third at the end of the first lap behind Brookes and Ellison. At half race distance he set a new lap record which enabled him to overhaul Ellison and he promptly set about closing down race leader Brookes. On the 14th lap, he duly took the lead and eventually took the win by 0.686s for his 80th BSB career victory.

It was Byrne’s third win of the season and his 19th career double which continued his impressive run of victories at the Norfolk track taking his tally to ten at the track for himself and Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team.

Speaking after an excellent weekend, Byrne said: “It’s been a good weekend and in both races, I used my head and bided my time. I didn’t make the greatest of starts in race one but stayed safe in the first few laps and we’d worked hard over the weekend to make sure we were fast throughout the race. I took my time to get to the front and then at half race distance pushed on a bit and it all panned out perfectly.

“Race two was definitely tougher as Josh (Brookes) was setting a good pace. He put the hammer down around half race distance so I made my move and obliterated my own lap record to grab the lead soon after. The Be Wiser Ducati team did a great job all weekend and after only getting a couple of thirds at Knockhill and with Glenn getting injured, it’s good to put the smiles back on everyone’s faces.”