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Silverstone BSB: Byrne leads championship after opening round

Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne may not have won both races during the MCE British Superbike season-opener at Silverstone, but he leaves the historic circuit as the overall championship leader.

The multiple-champion finished both races in second place, and was caught in a battle for the win with Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty in race-one, and JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Peter Hickman in the final outing. But even after an epic fight with the ZX-10R rider which went all the way down to the final lap on the last corner, Byrne ended up just missing out by 0.99s.

“We are making progress, everyone throughout testing has kept their cards quite close to their chest so you don’t really know what everyone has got until you come into a race with them,” said Byrne at the track.

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“My crew chief said I think we should try the other tyre [softer rear compound in race-one], it was important that I started off quite steady to ensure we had some tyre left at the end of the race. I made a couple of little mistakes but it is the first race of the year, it is onwards and upwards and a great start for the Be Wiser Ducati team and I am really, really happy.”

It is a new Panigale for the Englishman and his team are ‘making progress’ with the Ducati. Byrne now has a total of 40 points and six podium credits, and even though he is a little disappointed that he didn’t clinch maximum points today he is still pleased with the results, and the hard work that his crew put into his motorbike.

“[In race two] I think the most important thing is that this is a brand spanking new motorcycle - it is in its infancy. I think the results we have achieved today is testament to the Be Wiser Ducati team and I don’t think I could have gone much faster if I tried, I rode as hard as I could.

“I managed to just get underneath him [Hickman], and then he shot back underneath me and I thought ‘no way’. It was pretty big and realistically to come away with two seconds and a championship lead is wonderful.”

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