Defending champion Shane Byrne secured his place in the showdown and another all important podium point with another podium finish on a tricky weekend at Silverstone. 

Byrne, started the first race of the day from pole position and a perfect start on the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R saw him grab the lead into the first corner from where he held sway over the field for the first half of the race before dropping to third.

Following a safety car intervention, the pack closed up but just as Byrne was planning a charge to victory in the closing laps, out came the red flag due to oil being dropped on the circuit leaving him to claim the final podium spot for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team.

Byrne started the second race, which was held in wet conditions, on the front row once more with Irwin on row four before taking over the lead on the second lap and extending it as Irwin moved up to seventh. However, it all went wrong for the team on the sixth lap as both Shakey and Irwin crashed out just prior to the red flag as conditions deteriorated.

As a result, Byrne leads the standings on 532 points ahead of Leon Haslam on 526 going into next weekend’s opening Showdown encounter at Oulton Park.

Speaking after a tricky weeken, Byrne said: “Saturday was a very difficult day so it was nice to get today underway with a good, solid ride onto the podium in race one. I rarely use the harder SC1 tyre as it’s hard to make it work on the Be Wiser Ducati but with the cooler temperatures I felt I had little option and was ready to have a big push in the closing stages only for the red flag to end the race early.

“I felt comfortable at the front in race two but the weather made it really difficult and I was down before I knew it. We came here with the aim of getting three wins and 15 Podium Points but racing doesn’t always work out like that and whilst you could look at this weekend in a negative way after two crashes, the positive is how well the bike has performed on the harder SC1 tyre.

“With autumn and the cooler temperatures now upon us, I’ve gained a lot of confidence which should stand us in good stead. The Showdown’s now upon us and we’ve got five days before we come out fighting.”