Kent’s very own Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne confirmed his place in the end of season showdown despite a tough weekend at Thruxton.
The latest round of the MCE British Superbike Championship didn’t go quite as planned for the defending champion, but he still came away with a fourth place finish and a hard fought second place for his efforts.
He found himself in the unfamiliar position of 17th place after yesterday’s qualifying session which gave him a lot of work to do for today’s opening 20-lap race. With some big changes overnight which resulted in fourth in morning warm-up, it gave him plenty of optimism although the first race was only five laps old when it was red flagged due to an oil spillage.
Upon the re-start, the Sittingbourne rider lined up in 12th before making his way up through the field as the race progressed. By lap four he was up to fourth and after a hectic battle, he managed to cross the line in fourth position to take 13 valuable points.
That performance gave him a strong grid position of row two for the second 20-lap race as the temperature soared at Britain’s fastest track and whilst he was unable to move forward in the early stages, as the race progressed he moved up to second as his decision to run the harder rear tyre paid dividends whereby he held on to take second place at the chequered flag.
The result scored Byrne three more important Podium Points as he confirmed his place in the all-important Showdown phase at the end of the season which will determine the destiny of the 2015 title.
Giving his thoughts after the weekend, he said: “We’ve had a good season up until now but it just hasn’t gone our way this weekend and to be in 17th after qualifying certainly wasn’t in the script. At the same time, if you had said I would get these results on Friday afternoon, I would have snatched your arm off!
“This is the most difficult weekend I’ve ever had with the team and despite their hard work, we’ve been rubbish so I am delighted to salvage these results. The podium finish especially feels like a win, so that one is for my team and their efforts.”
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