Season Review - Paul Bird Motorsport
SHANE 'SHAKEY' BYRNE
FUCHS Silkolene ambassador Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne ended a remarkable 2016 season by capturing a history-making fifth British Superbike Championship success.
The 39-year-old put the finishing touches to a memorable campaign by converting a 17-point lead going into the final weekend of the season at Brands Hatch into a title-winning triumph.
At the end of Paul Bird Motorsport’s (PBM) 2015 campaign, the decision was made to move away from the teams Kawasaki ZX-10R bikes in favor of fully factory-supported Ducati Panigale R’s for Shane and new PBM recruit Glen Irwin.
With a new teammate and a new Ducati, as the season started, all eyes were on Shakey’s fight for five BSB championships. However the first win didn’t come until his sixth race at Brands Hatch, starting a fantastic run of seven wins ten races placing him back atop the championship standings.
With half the season still to race, title contender Leon Haslam also found some championship form and pushed Shane to the wire following a string of wins. Unfortunately for Leon, some untimely crashes passed advantage back to the King of Brands who never looked back as he claimed his record fifth championship.
Shakey managed 9 race wins, 4 second place finishes and 3 third place finishes, making 16 podiums from 26 BSB races and 669 championship points, 29 ahead of rival Leon Haslam. His third highest BSB points tally of his illustrious career. Shane also took 7 pole position starts and recorded 8 fastest laps.
Byrne is now, the most successful British Superbike rider ever, landing title success in 2003, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Who would back against him winning in 2017!
GLEN IRWIN
British Superbike rookie Glen Irwin made the step up from a string of successful British Superstock and British Supersport campaigns and joined team PBM alongside the experienced Byrne.
Following a shining display in the 2015 North West 200 road race, team owner Paul Bird put Glen to work with some hard pre-season test rides on his new Ducati Panigale R in preparation for the upcoming BSB start.
The Ulsterman eased into the season with a few tough races and low scoring finishes following a spell of race retirements.
It was at Thruxton in round 6 of the championship when Irwin finally got going, scoring an excellent podium finish.
More top ten finishes followed at Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park and Oulton Park with steady results continuing up to the season finale where in the last round Glen scored another podium finish.
In his supporting role within the PBM team, Irwin was still able to record a successful debut season, finishing twelfth in the rider’s championship with a respectable 143 points.
Expect the ‘Turbo Rabbit’ to attack the podium more frequently next year.
