Kent’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne returned to the top step of the podium at the latest round of the MCE British Superbike championship at Oulton Park.
After a tough few rounds where the four time champion has struggled to find his best form, it was a welcome return to the rostrum for the Paul Bird Motorsport rider.
In qualifying on Saturday, Byrne was under the lap record to seal pole position and in race one with title rival Josh Brookes starting from last, he roared off in the lead.
For most of the race, Shakey was untroubled and looked to be comfortably managing his lead, until the returning James Ellison began to close the gap. Byrne seeing the threat starting to drop the laptimes and managing the gap at the front.
It also represented another milestone for the experienced racer, as he netted his 67th career victory in the British Superbikes.
It was a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure, and speaking after the race, he said: “I want to be five times champion but I am not going to do that finishing in sixth or fourth or whatever but since Brands Hatch we have had a really bad run, so I know how easily things can turn around! No stone was left unturned and now it is my bike again.
“That race there was kind of tricky, I wanted to go out and try and get away but at the same time I didn’t want to go out and get away and then suffer at the end of the race. We have 18 laps of data now so the team can have a look at that and we are on pole for tomorrow’s first race. The 67th win is finally off my back, so a massive thanks to Paul Bird and everyone who stands by me.”
Sunday’s opening race also saw Byrne starting from pole position by virtue of the fact that he had the fastest lap of the opening race, with Brookes and Tommy Bridewell joining him on the front row.
As everyone predicted the race was to be a competitive one between Brookes and Byrne, and it looked like Shakey was sticking behind the Brookes and waiting to bide his time and make a move in the closing stages of the race, but a mechanical issue forced him into a rare retirement.
The final race of the weekend, was just that battle we were waiting for as Shakey sat behind Brookes waiting for a mistake or to make a move. He did however have a lunge mid race and dropped down to fifth place.
It didn’t take long for him to pick the places off and get back onto the tail of the Australian, and with just one lap to go he made his move and slotted past Brookes. However, no one really thought the race was over and waited for Brookes to make a move for the lead once more.
On the last lap they were right with each other and Brookes was looking for a way past or for Byrne to make a mistake and for him to slot past. However, Byrne holds him off and takes a double win from the weekend at Oulton Park.
Giving his thoughts on the weekends racing, Byrne said: “First of all, I’m delighted to be in the Showdown again this season and we can now regroup and get ready for the final three rounds. The first race was quite tricky this weekend and I wasn’t sure how it would pan out, but I tried to relax and look after the tyres and it all went to plan.
“The second race was the first time we’ve had an engine failure in two years and I really felt for the team so that final race win is for them as they’ve turned it around for me after the problems we’ve had in recent rounds. Again, it was a hard race and after I made the pass on Josh, it gave me some work to do, but I dug deep and pulled through for the victory.”
With the showdown now upon us with the first round at Assen, it couldn’t be any closer between the two title protagonists with the podium credits added to the new overall scores, Brookes leads by two points. It is anyone’s guess who will take the 2015 MCE British Superbike crown, what we are guaranteed is some fantastic races in the three showdown rounds.
Pictures supplied by PSP Images.