Be Wiser Ducati's Shane Byrne re-wrote the MCE British Superbike history books during qualifying at Assen, after setting a new outright lap record at the TT circuit. Not only that, his 1'35.724 would have placed him second on the World Superbike grid too.
He bagged his fiftieth career BSB pole, but he was left 'p****d off' and 'frustrated' and was left feeling like a 'caravan' after he was caught up in traffic with some riders waiting for tows.
Byrne did manage to put a lap together that more than secured his place on the number one spot on the starting grid for race one tomorrow, and thanked his crew for improving the feeling of the Panigale in time for qualifying.
"The lap came from being p****d off being a caravan. I sat there and you could see people sitting in the middle of the track and waiting for tows and I just wanted to do my own lap and in the end I done the second lap and got into some traffic towards the end of the lap. Fortunately it panned out and it was a half sensible lap," said Byrne at the track.
"It is frustrating as a professional rider you do your best to keep out of everybody's way and sometimes it is not a quality that is shared by other people. It is racing and it seems a bit strange that eight or nine people can be out on track and there can still be traffic, but we did our job and got pole.
"Just a little bit frustrated with other riders on the track. There are nine of us on the track and surely we can do our own time on our own bit of track and I got a bit flustered in the first lap as I had someone trying to get a tow with me.
"Yesterday we were suffering a bit in the dry and we got the feeling back now and the bike seems to be going really well. I am chuffed to bits as that time would have put me second on the World Superbike grid.
"Fortunately Giovanni made some changes to the bike and made it similar to some of the tracks we raced at previously, and I am not 100 percent sure but I think the bike is exactly the same as it was as Thruxton. But it seems to work and I felt more confident in the session and tried both tyres as well, so overall pretty happy."
