Starting from the front of the second row, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne’s could have been over at the first corner. Jason O’Halloran ran in too hot at Duffus Dip with Shakey having to avoid clipping the Honda rider’s rear wheel, subsequently moving the Be Wiser Ducati Team rider a several positions down in to 7th place.

By half race distance Shakey was up into 4th and starting to pressure O’Halloran for 3rd, eventually making a move in the inside into Taylor’s Hairpin. Shakey held on to the position to finish behind winner Jake Dixon and Luke Mossey for a valuable podium position.

John ‘Hopper’ Hopkins (Moto Rapido Ducati) had started towards the rear of the grid in 18th after suffering ECU issues during qualifying. But the American made several passes on the opening laps as he cut his way through the field and was running up in 9th by half race distance. Bradley Ray then crashed out while a pass on Sylvain Guintoli meant an impressive 7th place finish.

Shakey’s podium finish moves him up into joint 4th in the British Superbike Championship, alongside O’Halloran with 74 points apiece.

Shakey will line up on the grid for Race 2 in Row 2 again in 5th, while Hopper starts on Row 4 in 11th.

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati #67) – 3rd

"I got a really good start. I ran down into Turn 1 in 2nd or 3rd maybe but Jason [O’Halloran] was on the inside and the bumps here at Knockhill are really bad into Turn 1. I think Jason caught them and that pushed him wide and I was on the outside and that put me even wider. So unfortunately, I went from 4th to about 8th which wasn’t ideal. It was always going to be a difficult race for us because before the race the boys changed offsets, springs, pivot position, absolutely everything on the bike… The first chance unfortunately I got to try the bike was while I was being punted towards the kerbs at Turn 1. The boys done a good job. There’s still some stuff we can do. But by the time I got back to 3rd. Luke was managing his gap to me and Jake was obviously out at front and doing a tremendous job. I think for him to take that win in that fashion is incredible. It’s the hardest way to win a race being out front on your own and leading."

John ‘Hopper’ Hopkins (Moto Rapido Ducati #21) – 7th

“We struggled a bit. I ended up a having a little bit of a lowside and lost the front in Free Practice. I hurt my hand a little bit so that was a bit of a downer. In qualifying we had an electrical issue that unfortunately left us starting pretty much near the last row of the grid. That makes it hard work for anybody when you have to start that far back on a circuit like this where there’s really only one passing place. I did the best I could in Race 1, we ended up finishing 7th and from where we started I was pretty happy with that. Knowing our pace and what we could achieve here and the level of the bike and so forth I really felt like we could get a podium here.”