Reigning MCE British Superbike Champion, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne, proved he is the man to beat once again ahead of the new season as he came out on top at the official one-day test at Donington Park.
The four-time champion claimed top spot by 0.222s ahead of the returning Danny Buchan, who put in a strong performance for Tommy Hill’s Be Wiser Kawasaki Team.
The 21-year-old managed to finished ahead of last season’s runner-up, Ryuichi Kiyonari, who crashed out of the session late-on at Redgate Corner.
The test got underway in damp conditions, with Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes topping the timing sheets early on in the season. Once the track began to dry out the lap-times soon began to tumble, with Kiyonari’s Buildbase BMW improving lap-by-lap.
The triple BSB Champion’s progress was brought to a premature halt when, with just less that five minutes to go, he crashed out at Redgate. The Japanese star was left battered and bruised following the hi-side but will be ready for the start of the season.
With Kiyonari out of the test Byrne took full advantage on his PBM Kawasaki and went quickest with a lap-time of 1:31.145.
Kiyonari soon found himself being pushed down to third place when the impressive Buchan posted a lap-time of 1:31.145 to move himself up into second.
Behind the front three it was a positive day for Lloyds British Ducati Team, with Jakub Smrz finishing in fourth place, just ahead of Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot.
JG Speedfit Kawasaki‘s James Ellison was next up in sixth place ahead of PBM’s Stuart Easton and Anvil Hire TAG Racing Kawasaki rider, Richard Cooper.
Early pace-setter, Brookes, ended-up down in ninth place with Tommy Bridewell rounding-out the top 10 on his Tyco BMW.
With all of the pre-season testing now completed the rider now look ahead to the season opener which takes place at Donington Park between 4-6 April.
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