HM Plant Honda’s Shane 'Shakey' Byrne endured a dramatic qualifying session at Thruxton today ahead of the fourth round of the British Superbike Championship when the title leader crashed out in the first session which means he will start tomorrow’s opening race from 33rd on the grid. Ryuichi Kiyonari improved his pace this afternoon and he was able to qualify on the second row in seventh position.

Byrne had been second in combined free practice times after setting the pace on the opening day but he had completed a single lap before he crashed at the Club Chicane. Byrne suffered just cuts and bruises and is now determined to fight his way through the field in tomorrow’s opening race as he bids to maintain his lead in the overall standings. Kiyonari is also feeling confident of a strong performance tomorrow after making some positive changes to the HM Plant Honda Fireblade that has made him more comfortable.

In the Superstock 1000 Championship Jason O’Halloran will start from the third row of the grid in ninth place following today’s second qualifying session. He is feeling positive ahead of tomorrow’s race that he has the pace to challenge for a podium finish for the team.

Shakey said:

“It was disappointing to end qualifying with a crash in the first session, especially as the HM Plant Honda Fireblade has been working so well all weekend. I used a race tyre and needed just one lap to put me through to Q2 as after that we were going to make a few changes. I was feeling good and in the first sector it was my fastest of the weekend and as I exited the chicane I just got on the gas and the bike came round on me and I thought ‘oh no this isn’t going to be good!’ The electronics then figured it out and snapped it back and then it was over and out.

“It was frustrating as we still had a few things we wanted to try so it’s not ideal but I have started from the back before and come through to fourth so I will be trying that’s for sure. I have a few cuts and bruises but luckily nothing more than that so I will be back out tomorrow. I want to come out and show everyone how determined I am!”

Kiyo said:

“We are in a better position than yesterday. We tried a completely different balance on the HM Plant Honda Fireblade and it was better straight away. Yesterday we needed to find something more and I think that now we have. We can do consistent lap times and we are getting faster all the time. We are closer now and I am happy for tomorrow’s races.”

Jason said:

“That was a decent session for us and it is better than it looks on paper. Our race pace is good but we just struggled to get one lap. We are not a million miles away and we just didn’t get the new tyre working how we needed to but on the used tyre we were consistent. We just need a good start in the races and then we should be up there.”

Team Manager Havier Beltran concluded:

“That was another mixed qualifying session for HM Plant Honda. To have Shakey crash at the very start was obviously disappointing and he will have to start 33rd on the grid for race one. However if you are going to take the positives this track is slightly more forgiving than some of the others and I am confident that he can work his way up the order tomorrow. For Kiyo he is not too worried as he has consistent pace for the races but if he can stay with the leading group then he should be challenging tomorrow. The same goes for Jason, if he can get away at the start then he will be up there again fighting for the podium.”