Reigning Bennetts British Superbike Champion Shane Byre goes into this weekend’s 2018 season opener at Donington Park wanting an easier time of it than he had last year.
The Be Wiser Ducati man highlighted he would prefer an easier path in the Showdown this year as problems meant he almost had to rely on other’s misfortune to take a sixth title but believes that after three pre-season tests, his team is in good shape.
“This season can definitely be better for me. I think we made quite hard work of it last year, in the end it all came good and I am really happy with the result but we certainly need to learn from some of the mistakes,’ said Byrne.
“I think the depth of field this year is going to make it more difficult but we will be ready to go when the flag drops.
“I am excited for the first races of the season! I don’t really know how to gauge pre-season testing as Mother Nature intervened with a lot of it, although we have almost an identical bike to what we won the championship with last season, albeit a new one, so that should help with us getting up to speed from the off.
“Last year was a big tick for me to defend a title for the first time and so the next aim has to be Mackenzie’s three in a row, which is funny because I remember when three titles was the goal and now I am on six!
“I will of course be pushing hard to add to that tally and it is an important weekend coming up at Donington Park - we need to have a better start to the season than last year when I didn’t make it past warm up!
“However in 2016 the Ducati worked well and we did the double so a repeat of that would be a nice way to start the season that’s for sure. I am so keen to get started now and see where we are at and where our competitors are at. It will be then time to create a battle plan and go from there.”