Reigning MCE British Superbike Champion Shane Byrne produced a scintillating performance to claim a double victory at round four of the series held at Knockhill in Scotland today.

Aboard the Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix-backed Kawasaki ZX-10R, the 36-year-old Sittingbourne rider was in stunning form throughout the weekend which saw him claim pole position as well as his second double victory of the season and in the process, not only did he regain the series lead but Shakey left the Fife circuit with a 30 point lead after claiming win number six of the season.

The feat was made even more impressive as Byrne was coping with wife Petra being taken seriously ill and admitted to hospital just prior to the weekend meaning team boss Paul Bird provided a stand-by helicopter in case Byrne needed to leave the Fife track to be at his wife's bedside. Luckily, she improved sufficiently which allowed the triple British champion to go on to claim the 11th double BSB victory of his career and 47th outright MCE BSB victory.

After taking pole position in Saturday's dry but cool conditions, race day saw the packed Scottish venue blessed by good weather and Byrne rode a text book first race to take the victory from Josh Brookes. Having shadowed his rival for much of the race, Shakey sealed the win on the 26th of 30 laps with an overtaking manoeuvre at the hairpin and he eventually ran out winner by a second.

Race two saw Byrne grab the lead at the very first corner and from there he was never headed. Extending his lead on each lap, Shakey had a 2.5 second advantage going into the final third of the race and was able to ease off in the closing stages to take a comfortable seventh victory at the track, exactly ten years after he did a double for the same PBM team on the MonsterMob Ducati.

Team-mate Keith Farmer had a mixed weekend with his strongest result of the season first time out offset by a disappointing second encounter. The 25-year-old rider from Clogher in County Tyrone qualified strongly in eighth place for race one and went even better in the first 30-lap race to take a career-best fourth place. He looked on course to take another top six result in race two later in the day but ran into the gravel at the hairpin on lap 14 to slip back to 15th but regrouped to finish in 13th at the chequered flag.


Shane Byrne:

"It's the first time in eight years Petra hasn't been with me at a race meeting but I went into the first race happier than I have been for the last few days after she rang me up with some words of encouragement. In the first race, I made a mistake when I first tried to overtake Josh but second time around I was able to make a good, clean pass and open up a gap. The second race pretty much went to plan and although it's never easy I felt comfortable leading from the front. The wins today are definitely for Petra.

Keith Farmer:

"It's been a lot better weekend for me and the time off since the last round has definitely helped me. I've relaxed a lot more and got myself a lot more settled both on and off the bike rather than beating myself up all the time. It was unfortunate in the first race that Alex Lowes and Jon Kirkham crashed out ahead of me but that's racing and I was delighted to take fourth. In the second race, there was a problem with grip from the rear from the outset and I had to push the limits that little bit more. I was trying to make up time where I shouldn't and ended up running into the gravel but overall, it was good to finish both races and get some good points on the board."

MCE British Superbike Championship Race 1 - 30 laps
1 Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Suzuki)
3 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda)
4 Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
5 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
6 James Westmoreland (BMW)

MCE British Superbike Championship Race 2 - 30 laps
1 Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Suzuki)
3 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda)
4 Alex Lowes (Honda)
5 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
6 James Westmoreland (BMW)
13 Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)

Championship Standings (after four rounds)
1 Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 166pts
2 Brookes 136
3 Lowes 130
4 Ellison 80
5 Kirkham 76
6 Walker 65
9 Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 50

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