Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne gets his championship title defence back on track with his first victory of the year and valuable points and podium credits at Oulton Park

Race 1

Shakey started from pole but championship leader Leon Haslam got the better of the Be Wiser Ducati rider going into Old Halls Bend. Despite sticking with Leon throughout the race Shakey was unable to make a pass and eventually brought his Panigale home for his first podium of the season.
Glenn Irwin was battling for 4th at one point, managing to stay on his bike after a huge moment but lost ground and finished in 9th. John ‘Hopper’ Hopkins started in 12th but dropped back to 14th  after a coming together with Brookes.

Race 2

Shakey lined up on the front row of the grid in 3rd with his teammate Irwin just behind him in 4th. Both Be Wiser Ducati riders lost positions on the opening lap but it wasn’t long before Shakey was back into 3rd before getting the better of O’Halloran into the Hizzy Chicane to take 2nd place.
Shakey went on to pass James Elliison (McAMS Yamaha) for the lead on Lap 5 and with a clear track in front him, he was able to get his head down, posting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 7 with a 1:35.030.

At half race distance the leading trio of Shakey, Ellison and Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) were starting to break away from the 6 riders behind. The chasing pair of Haslam and Ellison crashed out of the race after a dramatic coming together between the two riders after a technical issue with Ellison’s Yamaha.

After the Haslam and Ellison crash, Irwin sensed the cancge of the podium and fought his through the field of a chasing pack of 6 riders, eventually passing Christian Iddon (TYCO BMW Motorrad) for 2nd on the penultimate lap and holding on to this position for his best-ever race result in the BSB class and Be Wiser Ducati’s first ever 1-2 finish.

Hopper had a better starting position of 11th for Race 2, converting that into a Top 10 finish - crossing the line in 9th.

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati #67) – Race 1 –2nd, Race 2 – 1st

“The first race was a bit frustrating. I knew that I could run at the pace that I managed in Race 2 but for some reason towards the end of Race 1 we started having some problems which meant I couldn’t take it to Leon. But the way things have gone so far this season it was important to take that 2nd place take those 20 points and three podium credits rather than being upside down trying to race Leon. Race 2 was a different scenario, I felt really comfortable and got to the front and got in to the rhythm and a pace I knew I could run. Once I got out in front I just concentrated on hitting my markers and bringing it home.”

Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati #2) – Race 1 – 9th, Race 2 – 2nd

“It was a really frantic race. I had a much better bike underneath us [for Race 2] to make the passes. Round here you think there are a lot of corners and it’s easy to pass but it’s quite hard, it’s quite a big lunge. Fair play to Johnny [crew chief] he made the bike very  friendly and once I discovered that throughout the opening laps I took it quite easy on the tyre at the beginning trying not to lose touch with the group at the beginning… It reminded me of the old Supersport races, really good fun. Everyone in that race was riding really well, even Shakey was a step above today. I dug as deep as I’ve ever dug to get a podium. Fair play to the two lads that are also on the podium. Big thanks to PBM.”

John ‘Hopper’ Hopkins (Moto Rapido Ducati #21) – Race 1 – 14th, Race 2 – 9th

“Oulton Park circuit is a place where I’ve had success in the past. A circuit I enjoy and a circuit the Ducati goes well at. But we just never got the potential out of the bike and myself throughout the weekend. We just struggled with grip issues in Race 1, every corner I had no edge grip. Race 2 got a good start and then in an early lap I had a coming together with Brookes. He had made a pass into the chicane and completely shoved me into the kerb which just smacked by bad foot, dead square into the kerb. The adrenaline took over from that point and I was still right there with the group in front of me and I figured I had a good shot at staying with them. Unfortunately I got stuck behind Linfoot and I just couldn’t make the pass. It wasn’t until he actually made a big mistake that I was finally able to get around him. By that time the group had basically disappeared and that was where we had to finish. Disappointing because that’s not where we know we can be. Looking forward to this break now. Get my foot, my body, everything back to 100% and finally make our way back up to the Top 6."