Shane Byrne’s season was given a well-timed boost at Knockhill with the reigning champion picking up a pair of third-place finishes.
The Be Wiser Ducati man started the opening race of the day from fourth but came together with Jason O’Halloran on the opening lap, falling down to eighth.
The five-time champion regrouped over the next few laps and by lap seven he was back up into fourth, before moving up to third at half race distance – a position he was able to hold for the remainder of the race.
Byrne started race two from fifth and got off the line much smoother, holding onto that position throughout the opening stages of the race.
Byrne was in a battle for the final podium spot with Luke Mossey and he managed to get the better of his Kawasaki rival in the dying stages to take his second podium of the day.
Speaking about his weekend Byrne said: “We came here looking for two strong results and whilst we’ve all worked incredibly hard as a team to get the results we’ve got, it hasn’t been the greatest of weekends. We changed the bike massively for race one and at the end of the day, we’ve salvaged two podiums so it certainly hasn’t been the worst case scenario either.
“We’ve got some good circuits coming up with Snetterton, the Brands GP circuit and Thruxton, ones I really like and should suit the bike, so I’m looking forward to getting to those now.”
Byrne’s double podium success has moved him up into the Showdown places, with the number 67 now sitting in third spot – 51 points behind Mossey.
Leon Haslam was ruled out of proceedings with a concussion and two fractured vertebrae, which allowed Byrne to move just 21 points behind his main title rival last season.
Round five of the 2017 MCE British Superbike Championship takes place at Snetterton in two weeks’ time.
