Knockhill Next For Confident Be Wiser Ducati
After a seven-week break, the battle for the 2017 MCE British Superbike Championship resumes this weekend with round four taking place at Knockhill where both Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Glenn Irwin are looking to carry on where they left off.
Back in early May, the Be Wiser Ducati pairing scored a fantastic one-two in the second race at Oulton Park to bolster their aspirations for the title and saw five-times and defending champion Byrne clinch his first victory of the season for the Penrith-based team. The win for the Londoner, the 78th of his career, came at an opportune time after a tough opening couple of rounds but now the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R pilot is back on course and heading to the Fife track which has seen him claim 11 victories over the years.
The break has represented a memorable time for team-mate Irwin who followed up his second BSB podium of the season with a scintillating victory in the feature Superbike race at the North West 200 to give team boss Paul Bird his first such victory so the Ulsterman is brimful of confidence going into Knockhill. Both riders enjoyed a successful test at Knockhill a few weeks ago and again were at the cutting edge in last week’s official BSB test at Snetterton so arrive in Scotland in good shape.
Byrne, from Sittingbourne in Kent, has won at least one race every year since 2012 at Knockhill whilst Irwin, from Carrickfergus in County Antrim, has been on the podium in recent years too.
Shane Byrne: “It feels like forever since I last had to give my pre-race thoughts so for once I'm happy after winning the last race. Whilst the championship has had a long break, we've managed to get out twice, once at Knockhill in the wet and also last week at a very windy Snetterton. Both tests went OK but I'm a racer and can't wait to go racing again this weekend. Knockhill isn't the best of tracks for our bike but we won last year there and have enjoyed lots of success up there. It’s also important that we won last time out so I'm very keen to try to start where we left off before heading to some tracks that should really suit both me and the bike.”
Glenn Irwin: “Like Shakey, it’s great to be putting my thoughts down for a British Superbike weekend after such a long lay off. Thankfully for me, I had a successful week on track at the NW200, a wet test at Knockhill and a dry test at Snetterton so we’ve been kept busy. It's fair to say the team have worked really hard along with myself in this period and we have achieved positive outcomes at all of the above. The fire is lit in my belly for Knockhill, I will continue to work hard with my crew and not chase the lap time until it counts. If the weekend goes by my feeling, we should see a step up in both races. I'm excited and happy to get there.”
