Shane Byrne is refusing to play the blame game after seeing his MCE Insurance British Superbike title hopes hit a speed bump in round ten at Donington Park.

The HM Plant Honda rider headed into the Derbyshire double header – the first Showdown races where the top six are separated – in second place behind Tommy Hill.

But after a promising first outing, where the 34-year-old finished fourth, disaster struck in the second race as he tangled with title-rival Michael Laverty in the first corner, the pair ending up in the gravel.

Byrne fought his way back through the pack and finished a commendable eighth but, despite picking up some crucial championship points, he is now third overall and finds himself 25 points behind John Hopkins as the American picked up two race wins.

But Byrne is not about to throw in the towel and insists he still has plenty of fight left in him, although none of it will be aimed towards Laverty.

“This has been a very frustrating weekend because I had high hopes going into the races but finished just off the podium in the first race after leading it for a while,” he said.

“And in the second I had that tangle with Michael and that really set me back and I had to fight pretty hard to get back through.

“I don’t blame Michael though, and it was just one of those things. I was just trying my hardest to get to the front, went into the corner and heard and felt the crash.

“But I was pretty pleased with what I did after that, and to fight my way back to eighth was good and could prove really important in the big scheme of things.

“And it showed I had good pace too so I will come out next time at Silverstone looking for better results and the bike is showing it is capable of that.”