This Easter weekend sees the Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team start their title defence when the opening round of the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship gets underway at Donington Park.
Reigning champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne is gunning for title number seven after clinching last year’s crown in dramatic fashion in the very last race of the season for Paul Bird’s Lake District-based team and the 41-year-old Londoner is confident of further success on what will be his third successive year aboard the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R.

Pre-season testing was badly hit with inclement weather but despite this, positive steps were made in both Spain and at Donington Park last week meaning both riders are confident going into the opening two races on Bank Holiday Monday at the East Midlands track.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Byrne said: “2017 was a long time ago it seems but it’s all about this season now and I’m really looking forward to getting back racing at Donington Park this weekend. This year I intend to get past morning warm-up which will be a start after what happened last year!”

“Testing went OK, but I wouldn’t say it gave a true representation of where we are at as I think there is much more to come from us. We need this weekend to see where our opponents are at, so we can build what we need into a successful championship-winning year again. The team have done a great job and I just can’t wait to get started.”

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