Shane Byrne admits he feels a tinge of disappointment at being unable to make it a double MCE British Superbike Championship victory at Knockhill.

The Isle of Sheppey rider was though otherwise pleased to leave Scotland as the event’s highest-scorer.

The Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider furthered his and Paul Bird Motorsports’ title aspirations with a flawless ride to victory in the opening race, maintaining a strong race pace to keep Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty at bay.

Confident of replicating the result in race two in his quest to become the first double winner of 2012, Byrne couldn’t match the pace of Laverty and was thus forced to settle for second.

Though the two-time champion concedes he’d have rather come away with a full 50 points, he was otherwise content to move just six points and two podium credits behind Hill in the overall standings.

“I should be happy with 45 points from the weekend but 50 would have been better although it’s never easy against the likes of Michael, Tommy and the rest. We made a big change to the bike in warm up and it really worked so having not had as much dry time as I’d have liked we had to gamble and it paid off.

“It’s vitally important to just score podium credits now and be in the mix for the Showdown but I’m feeling really strong right now and am really looking forward to Oulton Park where I’ve already won this season.”