BSB:Thruxton - Shakey the Record Breaker!

What an entertaining couple of races that was!

To see Shane 'Shakey' Byrne in with a shout at becoming the most successful British Superbike rider in history was something I thought was inevitable, given his tenacity to run into the face of danger (come on, bro's, on two wheels cornering at a ridiculous lean angle is not dangerous?!).

Needless to say I was fully confident that he could eclipse the target of 43 race wins going in just one shy and it didn't take him long to put forth his case...



Race One started with a somewhat subdued qualifying because of adverse weather conditions meaning that the time set in free practice were what they had to go on to construct the grid. He was beaten to the punch on that first lap by an ever more impressive Alex Lowes who also was looking to stake a claim for this year's championship.

It seemed that this race weekend was a time when the safety car made multiple appearances, yet did not do a great deal in altering the race structure in any way, given the commanding riding style of the likes of Byrne, Lowes & Brookes, the usual contenders for race wins.

There was a moment in the first race where Keith Farmer, the current Pirelli National Superstock 1000 champion crashed out and due to him getting up with the number '67' on his leathers, this caused momentary confusion as to whether it was in fact Byrne who had crashed out instead. That was soon resolved as Farmer borrowed Shakey's leathers as his post race comments indicated he was 'struggling to find some that fit at the moment'.

Race Two kept up the drama as Ryuichi Kiyonari crashed out on the opening lap bringing out the safety car, but not before Shakey had brought himself into a commanding position at the sharp end of the grid to stake his claim for the 44th and record-breaking win in his BSB career.

The big drama for this race was the second deployment of the safety car due to a big collision between Karl Harris & Tommy Bridewell. One can only hope that the pair of them are okay as upon closing, ITV4's shots of said crash looked nasty and the marshal was on scene to oversee the recovery.

Hope all is okay, bro's! :)

Well then, the rider of the day has to be the record-breaker himself, Shane Byrne...

Not too suprising, huh? Given his performances in both races, to nab the victory in Race One on the closing lap, and then go on and get his 44th and set a new record of race wins shows to me that no matter which track he goes to, Byrne will always, always be the one to beat!

Next time out the boys on the bikes travel to Oulton Park and it's one of my favourite circuits to watch so we'll see if Shakey cannot extend his winning run, so far striking off three of the first four wins!

Peace out!


The Lanky Penguin