IN
THE
WIND
P24
BYRNE, LAVERTY SHARE THRUXTON
BSB WINS
T
he latest round of the Brit-
ish Superbike Championship
took place at the ultra-fast Thrux-
ton Circuit, July 23-24, with Be
Wiser Ducati's Shane Byrne and
Tyco BMW's Michael Laverty tak-
ing a win apiece.
Byrne took pole position and
took an early lead in a fractured
race one that saw a red flag
when Stuart Easton's ePayMe
Yamaha blew up and sent him
crashing out. At the restart,
Byrne and Laverty headed a
four-rider scrap for the podium,
with Byrne coming home the
winner ahead of Laverty and
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant
Kawasaki).
"The stoppage in the first
race didn't really do me any
favors as I'd got out front and
was managing the tires, so
the red flag came at the wrong
time, although safety's obviously
paramount," said Byrne. "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
tires trying to break away from
him and the last few laps were
a bit sketchy but we got the job
done."
Byrne (67) heads a frantic pack in race one. Laverty (7) would be his
only main challenger and romped home for the race two win.