Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes thinks Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne has all the luck going into the MCE British Superbike triple-header at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Both riders qualified on the front row this afternoon, but the Bringelly rider said that ‘voodoo shit’ has a lot to do with Byrne’s recent success - an opinion Byrne is none too happy about.

Byrne thinks that it is ‘consistency’ that is the cause of his solid form, and admits that he has had some bad luck himself. But Brookes feels ‘devastated’ that title challenger Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari has ended up injured this morning after a free practice crash, and is missing the first of three races this weekend due to a broken collarbone.

The Showdown pair will battle it out this afternoon on the Kent circuit – with it looking more and more likely that Byrne will take his fourth BSB title on Sunday. Brookes still wants to ‘put on a show’ for the fans, even if the Japanese rider is out on contention.

“I can’t help but think what voodoo shit Shakey is up to. He never seems to get a bad string of luck ever - it always seems to play in his shoes. It is devastating to see the championship finish with Kiyo laying on the floor this morning,” said Brookes, at the track.

“We will put on a show for the crowd. But it is a bit strange to come off the high of qualifying to go straight into the race – but it is the same for everyone."

Byrne hit back: “I think it has been consistency to be honest and I have had my share of bad luck too - I fell down and lost of big championship lead in Assen, so I am not so sure that voodoo shit has been going down at all. At the end of the day I have got two or three objectives and that is to be on the front row and the second is to try and win all three races.”