PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne did not have the MCE British Superbike race two finish that he wanted, as he was involved in a crash with title rival Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari at Oulton Park when he was battling for the win.
It is not all bad though for the quadruple-champ as he finished the opening race in third, but he can’t help but feel a bit frustrated after the back wheel of Kiyonari clipped his bike and they both went tumbling down, unhurt at Hizzys.
Kiyo did later apologise to Byrne, and in the end the eventual race win went to his PBM team-mate Stuart Easton, and the Lambeth born rider couldn’t be more happy for his younger garage buddy.
“We made some changes for race two and it was like riding a completely different bike. I was feeling confident and really happy and I waited until two thirds race distance and then I wanted to make some moves,” said Byrne.
“Stuart [Easton] came passed me and then I got him back and put two moves on Kiyo and the second one was much more decisive. I then tried to get a bit of a gap for the first part of the lap and then I went into Hizzys and for a moment I thought I had just run in with a bit too much back brake on and spun the bike around.
“Then as I was rolling through the grass I noticed Kiyo’s bike come flying passed and I thought ‘ah, that wasn’t the case’. It is what it is. I have an awful lot of respect and admiration for Kiyo as a rider and I know full well that would have been the last thing he intended. I also know how bad it feels for those split seconds before the collision because you make a decision and you don’t get a choice to back out of it, you know straight away it isn’t going to work and wish you could disappear or the ground would swallow you up before you hit the other person.
“He has been around and said sorry. It is a bit frustrating as I felt I had that win in the bag but at the same time I am over the moon for the PBM team and Stuart as I was cheering him from the wall at Hizzys.”
