Shane Byrne (motorcycle racer)
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Shane Byrne (born 10 December 1976 in Lambeth, London), often known as Shakey, is a British motorcycle road racer. He is a former British Superbike champion, World Superbike race winner, and MotoGP competitor. He currently lives in Spain with his Czechoslovakian girlfriend Petra.
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[edit] Early days
While working as a road tester for Colin Schiller's Fast Bikes magazine, Shakey sat and passed his motorcycle test on a Ducati 996 SPS. A test he did at a wet Oulton Park in this era impressed Paul Bird, twice his future boss.
Shane emerged in the British Superbike Championship in 1999, initially on a private Kawasaki. In 2001 he was 8th in the championship with 5 top-5 finishes, and was comfortably champion of the Cup for privateers - he was the privateer winner in 22 races out of 26.
[edit] Success
He then joined Renegade Ducati for 2002, taking his first BSB win, and MonsterMob for 2003. He stunned the paddock by storming to a string of wins, taking the title with ease. He impressed further by achieving a double win at Brands Hatch for the British round of the Superbike World Championship.
[edit] International racing
For 2004 he joined fellow Brit Jeremy McWilliams in MotoGP with Aprilia, although he missed several races through injury. He also made headlines after being accused of stealing a fan's girlfriend[citation needed]. He spent much of 2005 racing for Kenny Roberts' team on a KTM MotoGP bike, before they were forced to pull out due to an internal dispute between the chassis and engine manufacturers. He raced in Malaysia and Qatar for Camel Honda, but did not impress Honda enough to earn a 2006 ride.
[edit] Back to Britain
For 2006 he returned to the British Superbike championship with Rizla Suzuki. His first podium came in race 7, despite a severe stomach bug that weekend. He missed races 11 and 12 after a 187 mph crash caused by a brake failure, although he was not seriously hurt. At Knockhill he qualified 2nd, and followed a 2nd place finish in race 1 with the team's first win of the season in race 2. This was despite the team's bikes having been stolen and dumped in a barn alongside horse manure a week previously (see below). At the final round of the season he was running 3rd when he highsided, being knocked out in the process. Although he again escaped serious injury, he was unable to contest the final race of the year, which meant he slipped from 4th to 6th in the championship standings.
For 2007, Byrne was re-united with his former Monstermob boss Paul Bird who was now running the Stobart Vent-Axia team, a privateer team using the 1000cc Honda Fireblade. The Honda was competitive from the start, giving Shane more opportunities to fight at the front. He finished fifth overall, with a win, a pole position, and nine further podiums.
For the 2008 British Superbike championships, Byrne competes for the Airwaves Ducati squad on a Ducati 1098 alongside Leon Camier. He won three of the opening four races - in the second race at Oulton Park he went wide on lap one, dropping to 13th place, but fought back. Almost immediately after he passed Cal Crutchlow for the lead, Leon Haslam hit Tom Sykes, giving Byrne the lead. This race was stopped four laps early, after several riders including Crutchlow and Karl Harris fell.
[edit] 2007 British Superbike Results
Round 1 - Brands Hatch GP Circuit - April 9th Qualified 7th Race 1 - 4th Race 2 - 13th
Round 2 - Thruxton - April 15th Qualified 3rd Race 1 - 4th Race 2 - 3rd
Round 3 - Silverstone - April 29th Qualified 3rd Race 1 - DNF Race 2 - DNF
Round 4 - Oulton Park - May 7th Qualified 6th Race 1 - 6th Race 2 - 3rd
Round 5 - Snetterton - May 20th Qualified 1st Race 1 - DNF Race 2 - 3rd
Round 6 - Mondello Park - June 17th Qualified 6th Race 1 - 2nd Race 2 - 2nd
Round 7 - Knockhill - July 1st Qualified 8th Race 1 - 4th Race 2 - 5th
Round 8 - Oulton Park - July 15th Qualified 8th Race 1 - 2nd Race 2 - 3rd
Round 9 - Mallory Park - July 22nd Qualification is cancelled Race 1 - 1st Race 2 - 3rd
Round 10 - Croft - August 12th Qualified 11th (crashed out of qualifying session) Race 1 - 9th Race 2 - 7th
Round 11 - Cadwell Park - August 27th Qualified 8th Race 1 - 4th Race 2 - DNF
Round 12 - Donnington Park - September 23rd Qualified 7th Race 1 - 3rd Race 2 - 6th (After starting from pit lane)
Round 13 - Brands Hatch Indy - October 14th Qualified 4th Race 1 - 6th Race 2 - DNF
Final Championship Position = 5th
1 Win, 2nd Places = 3, 3rd Places = 6
[edit] 2008 British Superbike Results
Round 1 - Brands Hatch GP Circuit - April 6th Qualified 1st Meeting abandonded due to snow.
Round 2 - Thruxton - April 20th Qualified 1st Race 1 - 1st Race 2 - 2nd
Round 3 - Oulton Park - May 5th Qualified - 2nd Race 1 - 1st Race 2 - 1st
Round 1a (Round 1 rescheduled) - Brands Hatch GP - May 8th Race 1 - 1st race 2 - 2nd
Round 4 - Donnington Park - May 26th Qualified - 1st Race 1 - 1st Race 2 - 1st
