Byrne takes debut victory for the Panigale with stunning Race 2 win
Shane Bryne takes debut win for Be Wiser Ducati
First ever BSB win for Panigale
Brave Buchan fights back after race 1 crash
Shane Byrne blasted back from a disappointing race 1 in emphatic fashion to take the victory and a debut win for Be Wiser Ducati team. It was the first ever BSB win for the Ducati Panigale only previously having achieved podium finishes. Byrne and Be Wiser Ducati now head to Knockhill second in the championship and looking to add to the Panigale’s first win.
Race 1
Byrne lined up on the front row with high hopes for a podium finish but a poor start saw the Be Wiser Ducati rider lose places going from third to fifteenth after the opening laps.
Byrne found himself behind team mate Glen Irwin and fellow Ducati rider Danny Buchan. Byrne was in prime position on lap 3 to see Buchan the Lloyds British Moto Rapido rider suffer a massive high side.
Byrne soon managed to get past team mate Irwin and was able to use the gap in the field to put in the fastest lap of the race. Byrne chased the bunched pack in front of him and slowly picked off the riders in front of him until the end of the race meant Byrne had to settle for 9th and seven valuable championship points. Irwin meanwhile finished in the points in 13th position.
Race 2
Byrne lined up on the 2nd row of the grid after setting the fifth fastest time in race 1. This time Byrne managed to get away much cleaner but soon found himself eased out of the first corner and back in eighth place. Byrne had his sights set to chase the leading pack of six riders and before long he was on the back of Laverty. Things were made easier as the BMW suffered an engine failure and Byrne was able to move into sixth. Another technical problem this time for race leader Ellison allowed Byrne to again move up a place and soon he was chasing the leading two of Cooper and Haslam. It was now a three way race with 0.3 between them and Shakey eased past Haslam to line up Cooper. Cooper could do nothing about the hard charging Byrne as he made a stunning pass on Cooper to claim the debut win for the Panigale.
Glen Irwin’s was unable to follow up his points score in race one after a technical problem brought his race to a premature end. For the Lloyds British Moto Rapido they gained some consolation points after the bike had all but been destroyed in the earlier race. A bruised and battered Danny Buchan brought the Panigale home in 15th place. The team now look forward to continuing the progress made with Buchan and the Panigale at the next round at Knockhill.
Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati
I got an average start rather a dreadful one I was on the back of the guys in eight position but we were all together and it was clear that no one was getting away. I started chipping away at the guys in front after about 14 laps started passing a few and then with two laps to go I got on the back of Cooper and I managed to get past him and held on. I would like to say a massive thank you to Paul Bird, Ducati UK, Ducati at the factory. It’s the start of some really good things for us as we have our first round of upgrades which we can look forward to and should help us. Fingers crossed this is the first of many wins.
Steve Moore – Team Manager – Lloyds British Moto Rapido
“The weekend started out well and we are pretty happy with how the development of the bike is going with Danny and how he is riding the bike. In racing you are going to get accidents and if he is not pushing it’s a waste of time. We are getting good starts, good lap times and its unfortunate Danny crashed but Danny is alright and luckily we had all the parts to fix the bike and get it back out for race 2. Danny was pretty sore and it took him a few laps to get going so to get in the points was a good effort.”