SUPER SHAKEY SPLASHES TO DOUBLE PODIUM
2007 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round 8 – Oulton Park, Cheshire
Sunday 15th July 2007

Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport rider Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne overcame the wet conditions to record two podium finishes in round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park in Cheshire today.

Riding the VK backed Dunlop shod Honda Fireblade, Byrne battled back from a poor start in race one before taking advantage of the drying conditions in race two to score his second double podium of the season for the Paul Bird Motorsport team.

It was reward indeed for the 30 year old Londoner after a number of problems in qualifying had hampered his bid but he was delighted to leave Oulton having scored top points for the day.

Meanwhile for 21 year old team mate Tom Sykes the meeting had promised much with a superb second place qualifying position but delivered little as a crash in race one and a technical problem in race two scuppered his bid.

Sykes was in the leading bunch in the opening race and looking good for his first podium of the season when he slid off at the fast Druids Corner without injury, but any hopes he had of making amends in race two disappeared when his machine developed a water-inspired misfire in the early stages but he gallantly held on to finish in sixth position.

The team now moves on to Mallory Park next weekend hoping to continue their success in recent races.

Shane Byrne: “All of my team deserved that. We’ve had a really difficult weekend especially after I fell off twice, but that happens when you give 100%. The team has been awesome and I was really happy to get a podium in the first race and to make it two was even better. The team has done a great job and thanks to Dunlop also who have been great. We ended up top points scorer and its all credit to them.”

Tom Sykes: “I had bad starts in both races and in the first race I was running comfortably on the back of the bunch for second but was struggling with visibility and missed an apex and ran wide at Druids and lost the front. I had another bad start in the second race but I was picking my way through and I passed Shakey, who ended up on the podium, and from lap three I had a bit of a problem with the bike and just struggled from there and managed to hold on to sixth place. It’s just heartbreaking because I could have been on the podium in both races but we’ll carry on to Mallory and crack on from there.”

Paul Bird: “It’s a great result for the team after a difficult weekend with a couple of crashes, and to come out top points scorer just shows the character of the riders and the team. It’s fantastic for Shakey but luck just wasn’t on Tom’s side today but he showed maturity to bring the machine home in the top six in the second race. All in all it’s a fantastic result for the team and now we’ll go to Mallory Park and carry on the momentum.”

Race 1 Result
1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 31m03.104s,
2, Shane Byrne (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) +20.075s,
3, Chris Walker (Suzuki) +20.890s, 4, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +23.634s,
5, Cal Crutchlow (Suzuki) +29.967s, 6, Leon Camier (Honda) +42.345s,
7, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +1m24.828s,
8, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +1m28.272s,
9, Ollie Bridewell (Suzuki) +1m32.318s,
10, Guy Martin (Honda) +1m43.863s.

Race 2 Result
1, Jonathan Rea (Honda) 24m33.750s,
2, Karl Harris (Honda) +12.103s,
3, Shane Byrne (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) +19.949s,
4, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +26.780s, 5, Leon Camier (Honda) +29.256s,
6, Tom Sykes (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) +51.584s,
7, Michael Rutter (Kawasaki) +1m00.028s,
8, Chris Walker (Suzuki) +1m10.681s,
9, Ollie Bridewell (Suzuki) +1m13.025s,
10, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +1m14.807s.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship Positions after Round 8
1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 273pts
2, Jonathan Rea (Honda) 262pts
3, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 231pts
4, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 226pts
5, Shane Byrne (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) 187pts
6, Leon Camier (Honda) 166pts
7, Tom Sykes (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) 148pts
8, Chris Walker (Suzuki) 128pts
9, Karl Harris (Honda) 99pts
10, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 94pts

Compiled and distributed on behalf of Stobart Motorsport by Cartersport Motorsport Media and Management, PO Box 150, NORTHALLERTON DL6 3WZ