Byrne leads Championship after double podiumIrwin secures first points on Be Wiser Ducati race debut
Buchan 7th place in race 1
It was a satisfying first round of the British Superbikes for Shane Byrne and Be Wiser Ducati as they left a chilly Silverstone leading the British Superbike Championship. Byrne’s team mate Glenn Irwin also had a solid debut for the team bagging points in both races.
For the Lloyds British Moto Rapido team it was a weekend of both highs and lows as a top 7 finish for Danny Buchan was followed by a retirement in race 2 due to a technical problem.
Race 1
After losing a couple of places at the start of the race Be Wiser PBM Team rider Shane Byrne had worked his way up to third place. And a move at the end of Hangar Straight on lap 11 took second place from Dan Linfoot.
Like his teammate, rookie Glenn Irwin also lost a couple of positions at the start of the race but had managed to move from 19th to ensure a valuable points finish with a 14th place finish.
Lloyds British Moto Rapido’s Danny Buchan had a much better start and had climbed 5 positions within the first few laps. Buchan eventually finished in a strong 7th place.
Race 2
“The second race had mixed results for the two Ducati Teams. Once again Byrne lost a couple of places at the start before working his way back up to 2nd place. The race concluded with a nail biting finish as Byrne swapped places with eventual winner Peter Hickman, sliding his Panigale R across the line in a bid to be first to the flag. Shakey finished just 0.099seconds behind Hickman but his 2 podium finishes meaning he leaves Silverstone leading the 2016 BSB Championship with 40 points.
Glenn Irwin got hit at the start of the race and found himself as far down as 25th position before making several passes and climbing back up the field. He managed to get into the points once again and even bettered his Race 1 result with a 13th place finish.
Danny Buchan, who had been running in 8th, was forced to retire at half-race distance after a technical problem. The MotoRapido team will be looking to make amends at Oulton Park at Round 2.”
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati)
“The most important thing we can take away from this weekend is that this is a brand new motorcycle, it’s in it’s infancy and we have seen in previous years other teams with new motorcycles it has taken them a while to get going. You could argue that the Panigale is an established motorcycle but not with the BSB regulations so I think the results we have achieved today are testament to the hard work of the Be Wiser Ducati team. I rode it as hard as I could, I couldn’t have gone much faster in the second race. I did think we had the race won especially when Hickman went wide at the end. I tried to outdrive him out of the corner but it wasn’t to be. To come away with two seconds and championship lead is wonderful. I’m not happy because I haven’t won but at the same time I am really, really happy.”
Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati)
“I think I have what it takes to win superbike races but it’s not going to happen in round 1 and round 2. That’s not in the plan. But we changed our goal to points because testing was starting to go good. We’ve done that in the first race. We probably struggled with our chassis a little bit and maybe the wrong tyre choice for race 1, I’m not so sure.
But race 2 I got a good start and then got hit off the track and was down into 25th position. I’ve never done so many passes in my life! So we were climbing up and climbing up. It was satisfying seeing the group in front and catching them but I was also doing this on my own, imagine if I was in that group. What could I be doing? Extremely frustrating. But I like to take the positives out of every weekend and I’ve just compared with Shakey’s crew chief and he says my lap times were pretty much on the leader’s pace and that was all on my own. So I’m pretty chuffed with the PBM Team and Ducati.”
Danny Buchan (Lloyds British Moto Rapido) (Race 1 comment)
“Very happy with that considering the weekend we have, we said at the start top 10 would be good. I found myself in a good position from the start but we didn’t have the tyres to last for the last 3 laps but until then we were right on the leaders. That is positive and is something to take forward.”
