Shane 'Shakey' Byrne remains the most successful rider in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship and the four-time champion switched to Ducati power for his 2016 campaign. The Be Wiser Ducati rider arrives at Snetterton trailing arch rival Leon Haslam by just 13 points and determined to over through his Kawasaki rival.

Shakey has won five of the past six races at the Norfolk circuit and was fourth fastest at the recent test, just 0.3 seconds adrift of Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty. The Kent-based ace admits though that he can’t count on previous results when it comes to the two races this weekend on the 300 circuit as he bids to add to his two wins already this season.

Shakey said:

 “Basically if there were two rounds this season that I thought would be tough it was going to be Brands Hatch Indy and Knockhill. That was based on when we tested at Knockhill before the event and we had been working on different areas of the Be Wiser Ducati rather than a set-up for the circuit so I knew how it felt then and based a judgement on that. That said, the ones I did think would be tough I ended up winning at!

“We tested at Snetterton before Knockhill and although we didn’t get any clear laps in we did post some pretty fast times and we have a good base setting with the bike to start free practice with, which is good. I think that the nature of the 300 circuit should suit the Panigale and I am 99% confident that we will get our first round of upgrades for the bike at Snetterton too. These aren’t going to make me ten seconds a lap faster, but they will potentially make life that little bit easier.

“I am really looking forward to Snetterton and seeing how the Be Wiser Ducati works with the potential new upgrades. I know that there are stats with how many races I have won at Snetterton in recent years but I tend not to count on the past – my priority is to make those numbers even more impressive!”


The next round of the MCE British Superbike Championship takes place at Snetterton (July 8/9/10), for more information and to book please visit http://www.snetterton.co.uk