Kent’s Shane Byrne has dedicated his two British Superbikes wins at Knockhill to his wife Petra who was taken ill before the weekend.

Byrne was in imperious form as he stretched his lead at the top of the standings to 30 points with the double victory on board his Rapids Solicitors Kawasaki.

The Isle of Sheppey rider left for Scotland with his wife Petra taken into hospital and team boss Paul Bird provided a stand-by helicopter in case Byrne needed to leave the Fife circuit to attend her bedside.

Byrne, who achieved the 11th BSB double of his career and his 47th victory, said: “It’s the first time in eight years Petra hasn’t been with me at a race meeting but I went into the first race happier than I have been for the last few days after she rang me up with some words of encouragement.”

“In the first race, I made a mistake when I first tried to overtake Josh but second time around I was able to make a good, clean pass and open up a gap.”

“The second race pretty much went to plan and although it’s never easy I felt comfortable leading from the front.”

“The wins today are definitely for Petra.”

Byrne will be looking to extend his lead at the top of the British Superbikes Championship when round five takes place at Snetterton in Norfolk on July 7th.