BSB: Dominant win for Byrne in race one

Shane Byrne took victory in the opening race of the MCE British Superbike Showdown at Donington Park this afternoon after an intelligent race strategy saw him get the better of title rival Leon Haslam. 

With Haslam opting for his preferred harder Pirelli tyre, Byrne knew he had to plan his attack carefully. The Be Wiser Ducati man took the lead on lap three but would keep his cards close to his chest for the first half of the race before pulling the pin in the final stages. 

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Having saved enough of his soft tyre to comfortably build a gap on Haslam, the four-time British Champion took victory by seven seconds over his JG Speedfit Kawasaki rival. 

Jason O’Halloran took third after getting the better of early race leader James Ellison in the closing stages of the race, while Peter Hickman took a strong fifth as the leading non-Showdown contender ahead of Buildbase BMW’s Richard Cooper.

Dan Linfoot finished seventh ahead of the Tyco BMW of Christian Iddon, who ran with the leaders in the early stages, with John Hopkins and Michael Laverty rounding out the top ten. 

 

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