Double podium for Scot Stuart Easton 05 | 07 | 2015
THOUSANDS FLOCKED TO Knockhill for today's annual visit of Britain's fastest two-wheel series, the British Superbike Championship. And while Scot Stuart Easton bagged a couple of podium finishes in the latest double-header, it was his PBM Kawasaki team-mate, Shane 'Shakey' Byrne (pictured) who claimed both victories.
The four-time British champ, who entered the weekend leading this year's title race, strengthened his grip on the championship with two imperious performances.
And the 38-year-old emphasised he's the quickest rider in the ultra-competitive series by setting a new lap record at Knockhill, clocking 48.252secs, an average of 94.52mph.
In today's 30-lap opener, polesitter Byrne was quickly overtaken by Easton, the 31-year-old from Hawick, but the Englishman seized the initiative again when he retook the lead as the pack swarmed round the Hairpin at the end of lap one.
The Londoner was never headed again, while Easton — still striving for his first Superbike win at Knockhill — fell to third when he lost second place to the Tyco BMW of Michael Laverty with three laps remaining.
The day's second race became 'a game of two halfs' when intermittent rain at the end of lap 17 of the scheduled 30, round the 1.3-mile Fife circuit, forced the race to be red flagged.
After a 25-minute delay, the riders restarted on the grid based on their order at the end of lap 17.
Again Byrne led from start to finish in the short 11-lap sprint, while Easton, who had been just 0.088s behind Laverty in third when the rain came, eventually finished second, with Josh Brookes' Yamaha third.
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"Those were two tough, tough races," Byrne, who now leads Brookes by 38 points in the championship, with Easton third, a further 28 points adrift, admitted afterwards.
"Yes I got two wins, but I had to right really hard for both of them. Stuart hounded me for most of the first race, and the latter part of the second race, so I had to be at my best.
"That's highlighted by the fact I had to break the lap record to stay ahead. It's a great result for the team: two wins, a second and a third."
Easton, meanwhile, was pleased with his day's work, despite again not breaking his winning duck at Knockhill.
"A super weekend for me, and proves to everyone I'm right back on the pace," admitted Easton, who graduated to the BSB after winning the British Supersport Championship in 2013, his first full season back after recovering from the horrific injuries he sustained in 2011.
The Scot crashed at high speed contesting the North West 200 race on the roads of Northern Ireland breaking both legs, shattering his pelvis and sustaining internal injuries.
"Of course a win would have been fantastic, especially in front of so many friends and family who were here today, but I finished on the podium twice, and if I'm going to get beaten by anybody, then it would have to be Shakey."
The fact this weekend's high-speed two-wheel action even went ahead is only thanks to the proficiency and ultra-professionalism of the Knockhill staff.
When the arrived at the circuit on Saturday morning, large chunks of the Tarmac surface had been lifted and washed away as a result of the overnight violent thunderstorms and torrential rain which left the circuit battered and bruised.
Emergency repairs had to be made to the track surface on the entry to the fast right-hander at Turn 1 into Duffus Dip.
But while the repair crew achieved their primary goal of repairing the track before 11.30am, Mother Nature dealt the Fife circuit another blow when thick fog and poor visibility delayed the start of the day's proceedings by another 45-minutes.
Yesterday though, T-shirts were again the order of the day, with — ironically — the second half of the 'rain-hit' second race being deemed "officially dry", after the rain passed and the track did, indeed dry.
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Jim McGill
Photo: Power Images