SHANE BYRNE WINS 2008 BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
28 September 2008
Airwaves Ducati rider Shane Byrne sensationally clinched the 2008
British Superbike Championship at Silverstone today with 3rd and 2nd
place finishes. Teammate Leon Camier took a superb victory in race one,
following this with 4th in race two. GSE Racing is now the most
successful British Superbike team of all time with a total of four
championship titles.From their second row starting positions Leon and Shane were 7th and 8th respectively when a number of incidents at the front promoted them to 2nd and 3rd. Leon then took the lead on lap 9 with Shane remaining in the final podium spot.
Shane got away better at the start of race two, slotting into 5th by the end of the first lap. He quickly made his way up to 2nd where he was to remain comfortably until the finish. Leon had to work hard to regain places having lost time at the start, eventually finishing just off the podium in 4th.
Following race two Leon commented, “Today has been fantastic. I’m so pleased to have won again, and I’m absolutely delighted that Shane secured the championship. No one deserves it more than him. I have to say a big thank you to the Airwaves Ducati team; they’ve worked really hard over the weekend to give me a bike that was so good on the brakes that it made my job of overtaking a whole lot easier. I’m a little disappointed not to have got back on the podium in the second race but I’m really pleased with how I was riding and now can’t wait to get to Brands Hatch.”
On his championship win Shane said, “What an incredibly day. I really wanted to win the championship for myself and GSE Racing last time out at Croft so I can’t help but feel it’s a little overdue. But we finally got it and that’s the main thing! A big, big thank you to Airwaves Ducati. They put a lot of faith in me at the start of the season and gave me a fantastic opportunity so I’m really pleased to repay them with the championship title.”
Team Manager Colin Wright added “It has been a fantastic season for us, we started the year with new bikes, two new riders and different tyres to contend with. Obviously our goal was to win the championship but to be celebrating the win with everything new is a massive achievement for GSE Racing. We have won 4 British Championships in the last 10 years! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this superb record.”
Race One Results:
1. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati
2. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
3. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati
Race Two Results:
1. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
2. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati
3. Tom Sykes – Rizla Suzuki
4. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati
