Kent’s Shane Byrne finished second in the first race of the triple header from Oulton Park as the British Superbike Championship kicked back into gear.

Byrne had qualified in second place behind the quick Alex Lowes earlier in the day, the Sittingbourne speedster, once again flew off the line and lead into the first corner.

He slipped back to third place halfway round the first lap, when the race was red flagged after his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki teammate Keith Farmer came off after his bike let go and he hit a patch of the fluid he dropped and skidded off into the gravel.

After the race got restarted Shakey once again got off to a flying start but found himself down in fourth place. He rode a sensible race biding his time before taking Josh Brookes and then Alex Lowes to move back up into second place.

James Ellison was a somewhat surprising leader of the race, but his bike looked quick and Byrne did his best to hang on with him. Byrne was clearly the quicker of the two riders in the closing stages as he set the fastest lap of the race.

It looked as though the experienced rider was just biding his time to make his move on the Milwaukee Yamaha rider, but as the laps ticked away he couldn’t find a way past and had to settle for second place.

With two more races to come this weekend it was a sensible move for the Kent rider as he looks to build his Championship lead with the showdown fast approaching. Byrne’s first second place finish of the season, actually saw him as the first rider to guarantee his place in the showdown.

Speaking after the race a satisfied Byrne said: “I think it was a similar scenario to Brands Hatch for James following me. The Yamaha here is phenomenal but I rode as hard as I could. I saw James getting away from Alex a bit and I passed him then James and I pulled a little bit of a gap at the front.

“I think our lap times were the same as we were stronger in different places on the track. He did a great job in that race and we were both pushing right until the end; my fastest lap was the penultimate one so that shows just how hard we were pushing! It was important to achieve a Showdown place here and hopefully we can have a win or two tomorrow.”