Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne has a 25 point lead in the overall MCE British Superbike championship standings, after winning both races at Brands Hatch.
It is the rider’s first double victory of the season and in both races today got the better of title rival, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam. But they were not easy races for Byrne as he experienced poor starts in races one and two, and was even as far down as eleventh in the final event.
But he clawed his way up the grid and has praised his team for their work on developing the Panigale, and stated that the bike package he has keeps on getting ‘better and better’.
“I was down to eleventh in race two and it seemed that every time I overtook someone they lunged back at me. It certainly made it interesting it was a tough, tough race and I nearly collected Glenn when he had a moment coming out of Graham Hill and I thought that would have gone down like a concrete pipe wiping my team-mate out, and the race was full of incidents,” said Byrne at the circuit.
“It was a tough one and I got to the front with what I thought was one lap to go so I came on to the start and finish and Leon had a bit of a bobble and Jason went one way and then I went up the inside and I was hot on the brakes and was in the lead. I thought I only had one lap to go and just defended and then I came around and saw that there was about three laps to the end of the race. So I had a bit of a push at the end and tried to maintain a fast rhythm and I managed to do that to come away with our first double of the season.
“It has been an uphill battle with the bike and if you look back at winter testing we have had some really tough rounds and we knew it was going to take us a while to get up to speed and it seems to be coming now, and the package is getting better and better.”
It has been a solid weekend for Byrne, and he even set a new outright lap record at the track after an impressive 1’24.838 in FP3. In race one he did not have the start that he planned for, but soon made up for it with a fast pace and determined ride.
Speaking after race one Byrne added: “I thought if I could get away and get a good start I might be able to run a few fast laps initially to maybe try and get a gap but being back in the field and amongst the guys who were duffing each other up I was like oh no.
“When the course car came out I had just made a pass on Jason O’Halloran and just saw the safety car flag and I was unsure whether I got through before or after he flag came out, but I asked the team on the board and they said ‘P4 ok’.
“Fortunately there were ten laps left so I just tried to pick my moments and I saw the guys were strong in some areas than I was. Leon made a big move in to Paddock and went wide, and I thought I have got to try and get past, and I managed to get to the front and got my head down and making sure I was hitting my markers and bang on point.”