IN
THE
WIND
P40
BYRNE SEWS UP BRITISH SUPERBIKE TITLE
S
hane "Shakey" Byrne cel-
ebrated an unprecedented
fifth MCE Insurance British Su-
perbike Championship title at his
home circuit of Brands Hatch,
October 15-16, after a season-
long battle with archrival Leon
Haslam.
Byrne, of the Be Wiser Ducati
Team, faced a bit of a struggle
throughout the weekend, some
of which had to do with the
changing weather and bike
setup, but his 6-6-3 results over
the two days was more than
good enough to clinch the title
for the fifth time, making him the
most successful rider ever in the
championship.
"Winning my fifth title will
probably sink in later and it's
certainly a weight off my shoul-
ders," Byrne said. "While I was
desperate to end with a win,
we signed off with a podium.
The whole Be Wiser Ducati
team worked incredibly hard all
season long so a massive thank
you to them especially my crew
chief Giovanni, and team of Kev
and Sam."
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Ka-
wasaki) made things a lot easier
for Byrne when he crashed out
of the first race, making it nearly
impossible to keep Byrne from
winning the title. The crash
forced Haslam into having to win
both races on Sunday in order
to have even a remote chance of
stopping Byrne—it didn't happen.
Instead, James Ellison (JG
Speedfit Kawasaki) won them
both on Sunday, with Haslam
going 5-4.
Peter Hickman (JG Speedfit
Kawasaki), who won the first
leg Saturday, finished off the
weekend with a 3-DNF (me-
chanical). CN
RACE ONE
1. Peter Hickman (Kaw)
2. Christian Iddon (BMW)
3. Glenn Irwin (Duc)
4. Dan Linfoot (Hon)
5. Tommy Bridewell (Suz)
RACE TWO
1. James Ellison (Kaw)
2. John Hopkins (Yam)
3. Peter Hickman (Kaw)
4. Dan Linfoot (Hon)
5. Leon Haslam (Kaw)
RACE THREE
1. James Ellison (Kaw)
2. John Hopkins (Yam)
3. Shane Byrne (Duc)
4. Leon Haslam (Kaw)
5. Christian Iddon (BMW)
Shane Byrne finished off the
2016 MCE Insurance British
Superbike Championship with
his fifth title.
