Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne bagged his 46th MCE British Superbike pole today at Thruxton and plans to make an early escape in tomorrow’s opening race using the pace that saw him set the fastest-ever lap of the track qualifying two earlier today.
Byrne got down to a 1’13.843 to be a second faster than Josh Brookes’ existing race lap record before a false neutral and a mistake into the final chicane dropped his final Superpole lap down to a 1’14.315 but it was more than enough to hold off challenges from Dan Linfoot and Tommy Bridewell.
“The most pleasing aspect about the weekend so far is that we arrived with the bike as it had finished at Snetterton and we’ve only had to make a few small changes; it’s the first time this season the bike’s worked from the outset,” said Byrne.
“As a result, that’s allowed us to concentrate on other areas, particularly tyre life this weekend. I’m really happy with the way our bike is working and I’m confident that our race pace is strong so the plan is to get my head down in the first couple of laps and see how it goes.
“I had a bit more to give in Superpole but the bike jumped into neutral through turn two and that’s the last thing you want as it's flat out in fourth gear. I managed to get it back together and it was still good enough for pole so I’ll take that and look forward to tomorrow’s races.”
