Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne returned to the top step of the podium at his home circuit of Brands Hatch in the latest round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at the weekend.

It was the first victory of the season for the four time champion and the first for Ducati in the British Superbikes since 2010.

Aboard the factory-supported Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R, the 39 year old Londoner bounced back from a disappointing ninth place in the opening 30-lap race around the tight and twisty Indy track at the Kent venue to record his 69th career victory and with it, holds second place in the title race just three points adrift of leader Leon Haslam.

The four times champion lined up on the front row for the opening 30-lap race but a disastrous start left him deep in the pack and he found himself down in 15th place at the end of the first lap. But Byrne dug deep and despite the tight nature of the Indy circuit making overtaking hard, he fought his way up to ninth for seven valuable points at the flag.

However, despite a row two start for race two, Byrne was keen to make amends and made a better start to hold a top seven place in the early stages of race two. A safety car period bunched up the field and once the race was back on again, Shakey started his charge through the pack.

By two thirds race distance, he was up into third but he wasn’t content with that and aided by the fastest lap of the race, he took second place and closed in on race leader Richard Cooper. With two laps to go he grabbed the lead and he wasn’t to be denied taking a brilliant win to get his 2016 championship campaign firmly back on track.

Speaking after the weekend, Byrne said: “It’s great to get the first win of the season and I’m sure it’s the start of some really good times for us. The bike’s proving hard to get off the line at the moment and the first race was dreadful whilst the second one was average and that gave me a better chance.

“In race two, I was able to get with the leading group and with two laps to go, I managed to get by Richard by running up the inside at Clearways where I was able to get the power down more effectively and held on for a victory.

“We have our first batch of upgrades coming in the next few weeks, so we’re in a good place for the next round. All credit must go to the team so a massive thank you to Paul Bird, Be Wiser, Ducati UK, Ducati Italy and all my crew for working so hard for me.”

Images courtesy of www.psp-images.co.uk