Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne had phenomenal pace during the second MCE British Superbike free practice session at his home track of Brands Hatch.
He lapped a time that was only 0.006s shy of the outright lap, which is still held by Josh Brookes from five years ago. But it was not the best of session’s for the multiple champion, as he felt he was suffering with the feeling with the front of the bike.
A 1’25.117 was more than good enough to place his Panigale P1 on the timing-screens but Byrne is adamant that there is still more time to come from both the Ducati and the rider himself.
“Today has been quite difficult if I am honest. It might look great from a timesheet point of view but we are just suffering a little bit. With the information that we got from the bike when we raced here on the Indy circuit and then Snetterton with a strong weekend there. Plus an even stronger Thruxton and a test at Cadwell Park where we found some good information, but we have arrived at one of my favourite tracks in the world, I adore riding here and I am suffering with the feeling with the front of the bike. I feel like there is an awful lot of time still to come from me and the bike,” said Byrne.
“The second session we made some big, big changes, not just little ones to try and improve the feeling and it didn’t really amount to anything. It’s the August ‘big bash’ and I want to win two races, so we need to have some head scratching tonight to find a solution for tomorrow morning. Once we get what we need we can be much faster but more consistent as well.
“The laps at the end came probably more out of frustration than finesse – it was like ‘come on just do as you’re told’ and ringing its neck to make it work. I have said a million times; this is a race bike and when it works good, it works perfectly but when it isn’t, it’s a long way from good too. At the moment it is a bit of a way away and I just got annoyed this afternoon and ragged it
for a couple of laps. That’s all well and good but we need a nicer feeling to concentrate on and I am certain it will come.”
