Shane’s going for a Byrne up
SHANE BYRNE is hoping to turn up the heat in today’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship races after scorching to pole at Oulton Park.
The Be Wiser Ducati rider destroyed the race lap record with a hot time of 1min 33.979secs yesterday.
Now the six-time champ wants to convert pole into two wins.
He said: “I’m obviously happy with pole position but most of all I’m happy to be on the front row.
“I always want to be on the front row. Pole isn’t even too important, it’s the front row that matters.
“We’ve got the perfect grid position so now we need to make it count.”
After the cold and wet of the previous two rounds, track temperatures climbed to more than 37 degrees.
Byrne came out fighting in the final eight-minute shoot-out, setting his fast ®Êby ZOE BURN
lap early on. And despite his rivals putting up a fight, no one else was able to get into the 1.33s.
Jake Dixon, on the RAF Regulars & Reserves Kawasaki, was second quickest, while Byrne’s team-mate Glenn Irwin also made the front row.
Dixon said: “Maybe we’ve touched on a little bit of something. I can’t tell you how hard we’ve worked in the first few rounds.”
JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam will be looking to build on his win at Brands Hatch last month as he starts from fourth position.
Championship leader Bradley Ray will have to fight through from ninth after crashing out in the final session.