IN
THE
WIND
P38
BYRNE DOUBLES UP, AGAIN
P
BM Kawasaki's Shane Byrne
has once again stretched
his lead in the British Superbike
Championship after another
double victory, this one coming
at Knockhill in Scotland over the
weekend.
Londoner Byrne was at his
brilliant best in Scotland, taking
pole position and holding off de-
termined challenges from team-
mate Stuart Easton and Milwau-
kee Yamaha's Josh Brookes,
those three riders filling out the
podium in both races.
Race one saw Byrne dispose
of early race leader Easton at
the hairpin on lap one, however
he was unable to pull a substan-
tial gap at the notoriously tight
Knockhill venue, eventually tak-
ing the flag by .495 of a second
from Easton, Brookes and Tyco
BMW's Michael Laverty a further
.9 of a second behind in fourth.
It was a high attrition race,
with retirements including Josh
Waters, James Ellison, Ryuichi
Kiyonari, Dan Linfoot, Jack Ken-
nedy and Christian Iddon.
Race two was a two-part
affair after rain halted proceed-
ings with Byrne leading Laverty,
Easton and Brookes, resulting in
an 11-lap dash to the flag.
Byrne held on, leading
Easton, Brookes, Kiyonari
and Honda Racing's Jason
O'Halloran. "It might have
looked easy, but I can tell you
it wasn't," Byrne said. "The first
race was long and the pace was
not as quick and I had expected
it to be, but I was desperate to
be in front.
"I had a plan for the sprint race
[restarted race two] and that was
to start at the front and finish at
the front. I was able to push hard
and the bike was perfect and I
can't wait for Brands Hatch now!"
Byrne now leads Brookes in
the standings 201 to 166 with
Easton sitting third at 139.
In the Supersport category,
American James Rispoli took
5-7 results on his Team Trac-
tion Control Yamaha YZF-R6
behind race one winner Glenn
Irwin on the Gearlink Kawasaki
and race-two winner Kyle Ryde
on the PacedayZ Trackdays
Yamaha. The win elevated Irwin
to the championship lead by a
single point over Ryde, 172 to
171. Profile Racing Triumph's
Luke Stapleford, who took 2-4
finishes at Knockhill, sits third at
169. Rispoli sits seventh at 74.
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
BSB
Another perfect weekend
for Shane Byrne (67).