Byrne satisfied with 1st and 3rd as he claims 75th career victory
Glen Irwin continues to impress in rookie season with 5th and 7th
Easton eases into debut with Lloyds British Moto Rapido and looks forward to progress at Oulton Park
Be Wiser’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne won the opening race at Cadwell Park today marking his 75th career victory and a first win at the Lincolnshire circuit since 2003. He was back on the podium again in Race 2 with a 3rd place finish while teammate Glenn Irwin succeeded in his aim of 2 top 8 finishes.
Stuart Easton successfully completed his first races onboard the Ducati Panigale with his new Lloyds British MotoRapido Ducati Team, gaining valuable experience and data.
Race 1
Shakey looked to have put his previous poor starts behind him as he took the holeshot from 2nd on the grid, initially leading the race until polesitter Leon Haslam made a pass at Barn.
On Lap 4 Haslam looked to have a problem allowing Shakey to retake the lead. Meanwhile teammate Glenn Irwin was making up for the couple places he had lost at the start of the race, passing Christian Iddon for 11th on Lap 6 and then promoted to 10th when Dan Linfoot crashed out on the following lap.
Shakey had now pulled a second on Haslam and Jason O’Halloran behind him but a determined Haslam pushed hard and was able to close the gap back up, eventually passing Shakey for the lead once more on lap 9.
By two thirds race distance, Irwin had managed to climb up another couple of places, passing Peter Hickman for 8th as he raced towards his target of a top 8 finish. But Shakey had been passed by O’Halloran and was now down in 3rd place, meaning he had just 4 laps left to fight for the lead once more.
On Lap 15 Shakey got the better of O’Halloran to retake 2nd and then pulled the pin to chase the race leader. On the very last lap Shakey went underneath Haslam as the two riders entered Cascades, winning his 75th career victory and 7th race of the year in style.
Irwin finished in a strong 5th ahead of James Ellison and Peter Hickman’s Kawasakis.
Stuart Easton had qualified in 21st and eventually finished in 23rd, successfully completing his maiden race with the Lloyds British MotoRapido Ducati Team.
Race 2
Shakey made another great start from 2nd on the grid and was soon leading. But any progress was soon halted when Howie Mainwaring crashed out with Filip Backlund at Coppice on the opening lap and bringing out the safety car.
The race restarted 4 laps in with Haslam going on to make a pass on Shakey for the lead at Park but the Be Wiser rider came straight back instantly retake the lead. Next time round Haslam made a move stick but missed his apex, forcing Shakey wide and down into 3rd place as O’Halloran slipped past into second.
Irwin had qualified in 7th but found himself back in 10th after the start. On Lap 8 he passed James Ellison for 9th as he started to make his way through the field once more and by Lap 12 had passed Richard Cooper for 7th.
Despite a moment when O’Halloran selected the wrong gear whilst braking for Barn, Shakey was unable to pass the Honda rider and had to settle for the third step on the podium.
Glenn Irwin finished in 7th and continues to impress in his rookie season.
Stuart Easton started from 25th and bettered his Race 1 result with a 20th place finish, gaining valuable race experience onboard the Ducati Panigale in the process with his new Lloyds British MotoRapido Ducati Team.
Following his 75th career win in Race 1 and podium finish in Race 2, Shakey remains at the top of the British Superbike Championship, leading the way with a total of 272 points and 43 podium points.
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne– Be Wiser PBM Ducati
“For me this weekend has been really, really good. We’ve been up against it a little bit at some points in practice and Giovanni (Crupi) and the team have had to work really hard to get a feeling that we needed. We’ve been consistently fast all weekend, the Panigale has been really, really good on tyres. If anything Race 1 played into my hands as everyone was panicking about tyre wear and because they were, the racers were so slow for me it was almost going for a little Sunday ride at points. My bike was working so well that it was really good fun to ride.
Race 2 we were going to make a change but in the end the track temperature was very similar to the first race and I was so happy with the bike in Race 1 that I wanted it to stay exactly the same. For some unknown reason I sort of destroyed the rear tyre in Race 2 very, very early on and we had a lot of wheelspin. You probably saw that every time I came onto the start/finish straight I was getting dropped considerably and then making it all back over the course of a lap and getting dropped again. It was like this yo-yo effect but I just didn’t have any grip on the side of the tyre and couldn’t get the bike to go forward, it just always wanted to go sideways. So it’s a little bit frustrating in that we had a problem but at the same time it’s a mark of a great team and a great package that when things don’t go your way and you can’t win a race you can still take a podium point.
A 1st and a 3rd for me. I think it’s the first time I’ve won here in 13 years and I’m super happy. I’m happy now knowing there was a problem. The lap time weren’t fast and was looking at the lap time thinking why is this so hard to do? Why am I so on the limit? But as it turned out we now know why and we can look forward to Oulton Park and try and nick some more wins. I think that was my 75th win, a nice little milestone. So I’m really happy with that.”
Glenn Irwin – Be Wiser PBM Ducati
“Before the weekend we set a target of two top 6 finishes. But during the weekend we had a problem with our rear shock, but we didn’t find out until after Free Practice 3. So we really rolled the call back. The first session we didn’t have an issue so after that I said to the boys if we can get two top 8’s bearing in mind we were 11th on the grid for Race 1 then that would be a strong weekend. We had a good 5th in race 1. Race 2 we had a good 7th as I was being held up and Cadwell is so hard to pass at. It was definitely a positive weekend. If we didn’t have issue it would have been interesting to see how we could have done.”
Stuart Easton – Lloyds British Moto Rapido
“First day at school! It was a probably quite a tough circuit to come into in the middle of the season on a new bike and team. But everything was really, really good. Everything I asked for I got setup wise. We made a pretty good bike for race day. I was just quite far back on the grid and it’s so hard in the class to come through and Cadwell’s a really demanding circuit. I was pleased with the progress we made although the results were pretty terrible. My feelings on the bike in Race 2 was a lot, lot better than Free Practice 1 that’s for sure. So in that respect a lot of progress made and I’m really pleased to get Cadwell under my belt. I knew it would be a bit of a tough one to come in but Oulton is my best circuit. So really looking forward to the triple header with three chances and I know what to expect for next time.”
