Former Bennetts British Superbike Champion Shane Byrne has suffered a minor setback on his route to race fitness and may have to undergo another operation on his injured neck.

The Kent rider had a scan yesterday and found that he is 70 per cent of where he needs to be to race in 2019 and could again go under the knife early next season.

"Not going to lie, today's news wasn't great, however the optimist in me thinks it wasn't terrible either," said Byrne.

"Sure I was hoping for better news but I didn't get it. I can begin to start some steady training now as my neck's stable enough for that but I now have to wait for another scan in February as while it has healed a bit at very best it's only around 70 per cent of where it needs to be.

"As it stands I might still might need another operation February/March next year. I'll keep chipping away, it's what I do."