Kent’s Shane Byrne will once again be the man to beat as the British Superbike Championship heads to Thruxton this weekend.

In the second round of the 2013 season, Byrne heads to Thruxton having won one of the two opening races at Brands Hatch last weekend, and finishing on the podium in the second race.

The 2012 champion will face competition from Josh Brookes, Alex Lowes and the returning James Ellison, ensuring that once again it should be an entertaining weekend of bike racing.

They will get their first opportunity to try their 2013 bikes on the track on Friday morning when they head out in free practice one. They are back out on track in the afternoon session collecting more valuable data in free practice two.

Saturday morning see’s the final free practice session before the field are launched into qualifying for Sunday’s two races. The races on Sunday are both 20 laps on and will be a test of skill and endurance for the riders.

Thruxton is generally regarded as one of the quickest tracks that the BSB’s attending due to the number of sweeping curves. This means that Alex Lowes and Josh Brookes who are always quick are going to be strong here, meaning that Shakey is going to have to be on top of his game to be back on the top step of the podium again.

Reflecting on his performance at Brands Hatch, Shakey said: “Had I been offered a win and a third before the weekend I’d have taken that, but when you are out there you want to get a double. In the end it was a good result for the team and we move on with confidence.

“Brands is my ideal track and being close to home one I enjoy racing at, but Thruxton presents its own challenges and should be a great weekend. It’s fast in places and is one that riders enjoy going to.”

Looking forward to this weekend and racing at Thruxton, Byrne was equally up for the challenge, he added: “I like to get stuck in wherever I am and Thruxton will be no different. There are some fast corners and good places to overtake so we will see how I go.”

With plenty of competition on the grid this weekend, Shane told us who he thought might be the competition for a race win.

He said: “They’re (Josh Brookes and Alex Lowed) both fast lads on good bikes and showed at Brands that they will be competitive throughout the season, but then so will Kiyo who will come back strong and want to have a solid weekend. I take nothing for granted, so will have to be at my best to compete.”