The MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship hits Silverstone for the penultimate round this weekend (4/5/6 October) as the raging war between the Title Fighters intensifies with just a single point separating Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Alex Lowes.

The Showdown started in dramatic fashion at Assen with Lowes claiming a sensational victory before an incident in race two with Byrne meant he was excluded from the result; but now the pair are ready to renew their rivalry this weekend at the Northamptonshire circuit.

Shakey said:

“Assen obviously didn’t go completely according to plan, but myself and Alex are all cool. We have had some great races this season and we definitely have a few more to come before this season is done and dusted! I have been working hard since Assen with physio and training because I want to come out fighting as I am not giving up on that fourth title! The person I have to focus on is Alex; he is the closest one to me in the points which means he is the one I need to beat first. That is my plan at Silverstone and if I can do that and we work hard, then fingers crossed we can go to Brands Hatch still leading.”

Lowes added:

“I am feeling pretty good for Silverstone and that is what we are focused on now. I am still feeling confident because we have shown the pace of the Samsung Honda at the past three rounds. We have won the last six races on track and that shows how strong we have been and if we keep working hard we shouldn’t be too far away from trying to do it again at Silverstone. We also can’t take it for granted because the races are sure to be close and I think we will have some tough battles again. Myself and Shakey have had some great races this season and we know it will be close again at Silverstone. I can’t wait!”

The first Showdown round at Assen saw James Ellison fire himself ahead of Josh Brookes by three points in the standings and the Milwaukee Yamaha rider currently holds third place, 21 points adrift of Byrne with 125 points still available before the champion is crowned at Brands Hatch. Ellison arrives this weekend with confidence high following the team’s recent appearance at the MotoGP support race at the circuit and determined to close the deficit, however Brookes is also ready to up his game ahead of the two races at Silverstone.

Brookes said:

“I am putting things in place before Silverstone to be in a better position so that the weekends we have had recently don’t reoccur. I am preparing myself so that I am in a better position so we can try and perform to the level we need to. Assen was absolutely a missed opportunity but I can’t fix the damage now because it is done and we just need to come back stronger for the final two rounds because anything can happen.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari on the second Samsung Honda and Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland complete the line up of Title Fighters as five teams representing five different manufacturers battle for the 2013 title.

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