'Shakey' plans to conquer Knockhill 27 | 06 | 2014
BRITAIN'S FASTEST MEN on two wheels head to Knockhill in Fife this weekend for the fourth round of the British Superbike Championship. And the man they all need to beat is triple champ, Shane 'Shakey' Byrne.
The 37-year-old Londoner (pictured during today's free practice) arrived at Knockhill already leading this year's title race by 45 points from the Kawaski of Kendal's James Ellison.
And while Byrne is determined to repeat the winning double he achieved at the 1.3-mile Fife track last year, the Rapid Solicitors Kawasak rider — whose 2006 lap record of 48.474secs still stands — is taking nothing for granted.
"I seem to go well here," he admitted today, "and winning both races last year was terrific, but while we've had a great start to the season, we need to keep making improvements to make sure we keep going forward.
"Obviously the aim is to win both races this weekend again, but I never tend to rely on what's happened in previous years.
"Knockhill is a unique circuit, and I sense there's going to be a number of guys really pushing for the wins and podiums this weekend. There will definitely be more riders in the mix on Sunday.
"James, of course, will be a threat, but so too will Josh Brookes, Ryuichi Kiyonari, and my own team-mate, Stuart Easton," Byrne, fastest in today's practice with a 48.243s, continued.
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"There have been some great races between myself and Josh already, they have been good fun, and I would like to think this weekend will be the same.
"And of course, Stuart knows this place like the back of his hand, so I've no doubt he's going to go well. I know he's really keen to make an impression in front of his home crowd."
Easton, the 30-year-old from Hawick, graduated to the BSB after winning the British Supersport Championship last year, his first full season back after recovering from the horrific injuries he sustained in 2011.
The Scot crashed ah high speed contesting the North West 200 race on the roads of Northern Ireland breaking both legs, shattering his pelvis and sustaining internal injuries.
"It was brilliant to win the British Supersport title last year as it got me fit and back to form," a smiling, fully fit Easton, fourth-fastest in practice, and just 0.409s behind Byrne, explained.
"This season started well for me with two top five finishes in the opening double-header, but last time out at Snetterton we had a few problems and the best I could manage was 13th.
"But I'm determined to get my first podium of the year here at Knockhill. We're going into this weekend looking for a vast improvement on the previous round.
"It's still early days in the championship, but we want to get back to having consistent results like we did at the first two rounds before we stumbled a bit at Snetterton.
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"I look forward to Knockhill, as it's my only home round of the season. There's no reason why we can't be on the pace this weekend, so hopefully we can give the Scottish supporters something to celebrate."
Ellison meanwhile, second in the title race, aims to build on his strong performances at Snetterton — he finished second and third in the two races, each won by Byrne — and is determined not repeat his misery of 12 months ago.
"Knockhill's a pretty fun place to ride, but we didn't have much fun there last year on the Yamaha," Ellison, who only managed a solitary seventh place after crashing out in the second race, said,
"I'm really looking forward to the two races on Sunday on my new Kawasaki, because I know how nimble it is, and that's exactly what you need here at Knockhill.
"I had an awful weekend here last year — we were losing half-a-second coming out of the Hairpin, and at Knockhill that's a huge amount of time. I'm looking forward to making amends this weekend."
And Aussie Josh Brookes, third in the championship, has vowed to strike back on his Yamaha after crashing out whilst pushing to the limit at Snetterton.
"I'm fine after the Snetterton crash, so it's business as usual," the Oulton Park race winner said. "At Snetterton I could have waited until the end of the race to try and make the move and it might have worked. But if the chance is there and I see it this weekend, I will go for it.”
Plans to run the BSB double-header on the re-configurated reverse, anti-clockwise version of the Knockhill track ran out of time, as circuit director Stuart Gray explained.
"We had hoped to run the superbikes anti-clockwise on the Knockhill track, as we knew it would bring a completely different dimension to the racing," Gray explained.
"We had the official licence granted by the sport's governing body, but we just ran out of time for the organisers and teams to fully evaluate it, so we're progressing that process for next year."
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Jim McGill
Photograph copyright of Double Red