Slow starts fail to halt Byrne’s charge
Motorsport MOTORBASE LOOKING AHEAD TO FINAL ROUND WITH OPTIMISM
Shane Byrne celebrated his first British Superbike double of the season at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
The Championhip leader thrilled his home crowd by battling back from two poor starts to pip title rival Leon Haslam in both races.
The Kent rider dropped from the front row to ninth in the opener.
He’d climbed to fourth on his Ducati by the time the safety car appeared.
Byrne resumed his charge at the restart, rising to second before overtaking leader Tommy Bridewell at Hawthorns.
Bridewell crashed on the final lap, with Byrne holding off Haslam to win by 0.518sec.
Byrne’s sluggish start to race two saw him drop into the pack, just inside the top 10. Again the safety car came into play, with Byrne up to fourth after the restart.
A lap later he was in a three-way scrap for the lead with Haslam and Jason O’Halloran.
Side-by-side as they crossed the line, Byrne emerged at the front as the trio reached Druids.
He beat Haslam by 1.490, extending his championship lead to 25 points.
Byrne said: “I completely fluffed the start in the first race and it gave me plenty of work to do.
“It was my fault and it made me change my race strategy slightly but after the safety car period, I was lying in fourth and set about the three riders in front of me.
“I had a good rhythm and grabbed the lead with a few laps to go, so concentrated on hitting all my apexes to get the job done.
“It was a similar story in race two in terms of my start but I felt that if I could stay calm, there was still plenty of time for me to fight my way through.
“After the safety car went in, I decided to make my move straight away, thinking there were only a couple of laps left, so it threw me a bit when my pit board said there were still four laps to go!
“I thought I may have showed my hand too early but it all worked out well.
“We didn’t quite hit the nail on the head this weekend so to come away with a double shows just how far we’ve come and a massive thank you to everyone in the team for all their work. A double victory is an excellent feeling.”
Byrne’s double also saw him crowned the Monster Energy Kings of Brands.
Round eight is at Cadwell Park on August 27-29. Motorbase Performance bosses hope to end their British GT Championship season strongly next month after scoring two solid results at Snetterton on Sunday, writes Dan Wright.
The Wrotham-based squad travelled to the fast Norfolk circuit with their Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 for drivers Ross Wylie and Phil Dryburgh.
The pair qualified ninth for the opening race, finishing three places better off in sixth after one hour of action.
They dropped a position in race two, taking the flag in seventh.
Team principal David Bartrum said: “We can all look ahead to the last round at Donington Park now with a strong finish in mind for the championship.”
Wylie – who helped pick up the squad’s fourth top-seven finish of the season in race two – said he is looking forward to the final round.
He said: “It was pleasing to score two solid results but we still need to work hard to get to where we want to be, which is at the front.
“A lack of seat time has been the biggest issue all season, the pace is fierce and the competition in British GT is high. Now just one race of the season remains, at Donington Park, which is a track I love. I will be aiming to finish what has been a tough season on a high.”
Meanwhile, Motorbase’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship drivers will be back in action this weekend.
Mat Jackson and Andrew Jordan – sixth and eighth in the standings respectively – will be looking to close in on the championship leaders at the Knockhill circuit in Scotland.
The final round of the British GT Championship will be held at Donington Park on September 10-11.