Reigning MCE British Superbike Champion was able to lap at the same pace as the factory Aruba Ducati of Marco Melandri as the Be Wiser Ducati man mixed it up with the WorldSBK elite in Portugal.

Byrne, with team-mate Glenn Irwin, spent two days at the Autodromo Algarve and ended with a best time of 1’43.644 which was only a couple of tenths slower than Melandri and Honda’s Nicky Hayden even though the BSB rules don’t allow any electronics and the motors are a lower spec in terms of power.

“It’s pretty difficult to assess how our initial test went this year as you could argue that being just a couple of tenths seconds off the factory Ducati WSBK bike and in the mix with many of the others means that I’ve blown out the cobwebs and got up to speed quite quickly,” said Byrne.

“But at the same time we can’t rest on our laurels and need to push on with the development of the bike, testing against WSBK bikes is like taking a knife to a gunfight but we held our own that’s for sure. It’s early days yet and we are continuing the development work but just getting back out on my baby at a track I enjoy was great fun and roll on Jerez.”

Youngster Irwin added: ““It was good to ride at Portimao and shake off the winter cobwebs. We tested the new blipper which will come good, but I feel it was an extra on the bike but not yet working as I want it to. We also experimented with a new clutch and a different direction with the bike and we found some good pace towards the end of the day two leaving me just 1.3 seconds off Melandri and a second off Shakey. To end the day just a second off on a track where I’ve done so few miles is positive considering how quick Shakey’s pace was.”

The team will now move on to Jerez for another two days’ testing.