It was definitely a tale of two races for Kent’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne in the latest round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Thruxton this weekend.
The four time champion was dominate from the moment he left the garage in practice on Friday and it looked like that he might just walk away with both races with the pace that he was showing.
Having qualified on pole position for the opening race, he put the hammer down off the line and was out in front by a comfortable margin on his Ducati Panigale R, and he looked to be cruising to the victory in race one. That was before a red flag due to an incident with Stuart Easton meant that, there would be a twelve lap dash to the finish from the restart.
The race was restarted and once Byrne, from Sittingbourne, had disposed of Michael Laverty at the end of lap two, he served up a repeat performance to take his 72nd career BSB win, eventually taking victory by just over three seconds.
The second race around the ultra-fast track saw him make an ideal start to lead at the end of the first lap but all hopes of a second win were dashed moments later when the gear linkage broke and the 39-year-old four-times champion had no option other than to pull in to the pits and retire. Despite that, Shakey still leads the series going into his home round at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time.
Speaking after the weekend, Byrne said: “The stoppage in the first race didn’t really do me any favours as I’d got out front and was managing the tyres so the red flag came at the wrong time although safety’s obviously paramount. When Michael took the lead in the re-start I wasn’t too concerned but I knew I couldn’t stay behind him for too long otherwise it would be a freight train. I got by him but possibly punished my tyres trying to break away from him and the last few laps were a bit sketchy but we got the job done.
“The second race started well but the gear linkage breaking is just one of those things. I know how meticulous my team are, they’re almost obsessive and prepare in the same way that I do, always giving 100%. That’s why we work so well together. It was no-one’s fault although it was difficult to sit in the pit box knowing I could have been faster than what the leaders were lapping at! I really wanted to reward the whole team with a double this weekend but the positives, and there are a lot of them, far outweigh the negatives.”
The season now rolls into Kent for the latest round in a few weeks time for the Big Brands Hatch round and Byrne will be looking to take victory once again on his home circuit.
Images courtesy of www.psp-images.co.uk