Byrne sets record in Portimao
Added on Monday, January 26th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Byrne led the British charge in Portugal.
British Superbikes champion Shane Byrne recorded the fastest ever lap of the Parkalgar circuit in Portimao this weekend to demonstrate his World Superbikes credentials.
The BSB champion, making his WSB debut for 2009, posted a time of 1:43.294 in the first official test of the season to stun the rest of the field.
Riding the factory Sterilgarda Ducati, Byrne was almost 0.2sec faster than factory rider Noriyuki Haga whilst Michel Fabrizio onboard the second factory bike was more than half a second off the pace set by the Brit.
Fellow Brit and WSB debutant Tom Sykes also impressed in Portugal by finishing fourth overall over the weekend, clocking a time of 1:43.546 on his factory Yamaha R1. Sykes’ teammate Ben Spies was second overall at 1:43.484.
Two other Brits made it into the top ten with Jonathan Rea posting the ninth fastest time (1:44.115) with his Ten Kate Honda whilst Leon Haslam took his privateer Stiggy Honda around with the tenth fastest time of the day at 1:44.170.
But it was “Shakey” who stole the attention but seemed unsurprised by the result.
“I didn’t expect to be fastest in the test to be honest but I’m not surprised,” said Byrne.
“The bike’s working really well and the relationship and feedback with the team and my engineer is great.
“This Superpole formula is not new for me; we tried something similar in the last few BSB races.
“It’s really exciting and spectacular and I’m sure it’ll look good on TV as well”.
