BSB: Byrne: 'That was everything I had!'

“That was my all, I gave it everything I had and thought what will be will be,” Shane Byrne said after setting the fastest ever MCE British Superbike lap of the Snetterton 300 circuit.

The Be Wiser PBM Ducati star laid it all on the line to take pole position for tomorrow’s opening race by a whopping half a second despite second-placed James Ellison having already lapped quicker than the outright circuit record.

Having improved his pace session by session, the big question ahead of qualifying was whether Byrne, who has shown superior pace across the weekend, could break into the 1’46 barrier. But as ever, the five-time British Champion had to go one better as he came just 0.024 off breaking into the 1’45s.

“I felt like we’d gone to the next level with 1’46.8 in Q2 but knew there was a little more left in the tank as I’d made a few mistakes,’ Byrne told MCN after the session.

“That being said, when James went out and did a 1’46.5 I thought ‘flipping heck, fair play!’ He’d done a great job, so when I headed down the start finish straight I gave it everything I had.

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“When I saw I was 0.9 up on my previous time I started thinking it could be a 1’45, but as I carried an extra two or three miles an hour more through Coram, when I braked at my usual marker for the final turn it was ever so slightly too late and I just missed the apex. The exit from there is crucial and the bike bogged a bit, but I got myself tucked in, my arse was right up, and I got my shifts perfect and hit a 1’46.0, which is mega, but I don’t know if I’m thrilled with that or annoyed I didn’t get a 1’45!”

It’s not only Byrne’s outright pace that has been superior this weekend, his race pace on the softer option Pirelli rear tyre has also been frightfully quick putting him in a strong position ahead of tomorrow’s two races.

“We’ve worked hard this weekend, we’ve done quite a few race runs and tried to tick all of the boxes. This morning I did a 1’47.9 on lap 12 of a soft tyre, so I know that puts us in a strong position for tomorrow.” 

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