Danny Buchan will partner Shane Byrne at PBM Kawasaki in this weekend’s British Superbike Championship round at Silverstone, replacing the injured Stuart Easton. Buchan was left without a ride after Be Wiser Kawasaki’s withdrawal and the 22 year old has spoken of his delight and relief at securing such an opportunity.
“Firstly, I can’t thank Paul and his team enough for this opportunity. After my former team announced they weren’t continuing, I was in the process of trying to put my own team together for the final couple of rounds when I got a call out of the blue from Paul. Obviously, I’m delighted to join PBM Kawasaki this weekend as they have had so much success over the years and are the reigning champions. But I know it’s going to be a very tough weekend with a lot of pressure as whilst I know the crew, I’ve never worked with any of them. We need to build solidly from the start and I’m targeting a couple of top ten finishes for the team, anything else will be a bonus. It will be a dream to work with Shakey as he’s the most successful rider in MCE BSB history so I can’t wait to get started and thanks to my personal sponsors for their continued support.”
Easton hasn’t raced since sustaining a knee injury at Brands Hatch, an injury which ultimately cost him a place in the championship showdown, and Team Owner Paul Bird wants to give the Scotsman as long as possible to regain full fitness.
“We did our best to run Stuart at Assen but he’s still struggling with his knee injury and we didn’t want to risk him again so given the circumstances which have arisen over these past few days with Danny, we thought we’d give him the chance. He’s a talented rider who has shown some great potential this season culminating with that double podium at Oulton Park and is familiar with the brand of bike we race. It’s vitally important that we put out two riders for the remainder of the season and whilst there is no pressure on him whatsoever, Danny is capable of being towards the front and Shakey can concentrate on getting back to winning ways at Silverstone.”
