Shane 'Shakey' Byrne - Photo Credit: PBM UK
Shane 'Shakey' Byrne was happy simply to escape Brands Hatch with some points after the 2012 British Superbike season began in terrible conditions on Easter Monday. The Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider finished seventh in the only race to go ahead and hopes to see a more normal weekend at Thruxton where he feels he will be competitive.
“I didn’t even know where I’d even finished in the first race, there was just so much going on but considering the conditions I was happy just to bring the bike home. We have had very little time on the bike in the wet so it was a bit of a gamble with the settings and we perhaps went the wrong way. I was hoping to put it right in race two but quite rightly the race was postponed so we’ll move on to Thruxton next weekend and hope we can get the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki up at the front.”
Teammate Stuart Easton chose to withdraw early in the race to avoid risking an injury on his first racing appearance for 11 months. The Scotsman felt he learned a lot about the bike though making the weekend worthwhile.
“Overall we’ve had a good weekend and in the dry I was very happy with the way things were going but in the wet we struggled a little as it’s the first time in 18 months I’ve actually raced in the wet. Rather than a silly crash I thought we’d pull in and make the changes for race two but that never happened. It’s all good experience and we’ve got a lot of data and it’s good to be back on a bike again at a race meeting.”
Team Manager Paul Bird also admitted that they had made a mistake but remains optimistic for the rest of the season.
“It’s been a bit of a difficult day for both Shakey and Stuart and we went a little bit in the wrong direction with their settings as like most teams we’ve had very little in the way of wet testing. I’m pleased for Stuart who has done remarkably well this weekend and we know Shakey will bounce back next weekend at Thruxton.”
