Kent’s ‘Shakey’ Shane Byrne secured the 50^th victory of his British Superbike career when he won race two of the triple header at Oulton Park.

In the first race he had to settle for second place and in race three of the weekend it was the same outcome for the reigning Champion, but in race two he got the win that took him to that coverted milestone.

The seasoned campaigned has now also extended his lead in the Championship and booked himself a spot in the final showdown for the Championship.

Byrne eventually brought his bike over the line ahead of his rivals after a ding dong opening race on Sunday afternoon, which saw rival Alex Lowes crash out on the last lap.

Speaking after race one, Shakey said: “After yesterday I went into that race quite nervous and to be honest we are all riding on the absolute limit. To be able to pass we are going way beyond our comfort zone and I think you could see that in the race.

“Today it was important to get to the front and do my thing in the race. Alex set off fast and I followed him for a bit and then I managed to pass him. I then tried to be smooth and consistent but still as fast as possible.

“I saw with a lap or two to go that Josh was behind me and I got in a bit of a thing as I thought he had done me before in the last corner here for a win and I was desperate for that not to happen again. I rode defensively and found myself in some delicate situations and I just wanted to get to the flag.

“It is really important for me to dedicate that 50th win to Paul Bird as he has been a big part of most of those wins so I need to thank him.”

The final race of the weekend was an absolute ding dong battle between the front three as the lead changed hands several times with Byrne leading, then Brookes and they swapped back again within a corner.

Josh Brookes was to become the third different winner of the race weekend as he and Shakey had a great battle, and there was plenty of paint swapping going on between the top three as Alex Lowes looked to make up for the disappointment of crashing out in race two.

Giving his reaction to a fantastic final race of the triple header, Shane added: “It was a cool race; when you have one you enjoy and have ridden the best that you can you can’t do any more. I set a better pace in that final race than the one I did this morning, but I paid the price as I was pushing hard and at the end I think Josh had a little bit more left than I did at the end of the race.

“Josh rode really well and then on the last lap he had a big moment and I thought I could get back on him but he covered it and it was just a good, fun race. Looking at the bigger picture we have had a first and two seconds over a triple-header weekend so it hasn’t been a bad one at all.”

The Championship now moves on to Cadwell Park over the August Bank Holiday weekend where Shakey will be going for win number 51 of his career.