Source: BSB.

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne smashed the MCE British Superbike Championship lap record at Snetterton yesterday as the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider threw the gauntlet down to his rivals with just over a week to go until the season opener at Brands Hatch.

Byrne had been improving his pace throughout the day with the triple champion waiting until the final session of the day to set a time of 1m47.955s, his blistering pace 0.068 seconds under the current Superbike lap record.

“This has been a good test for us and it shows that over the winter the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki team haven’t stood still,” Byrne explained. “Snetterton for us in the past few years hasn’t been our strongest track, but I have really worked well with the new 17-inch Pirelli tyres, so to come here and end like this has been great.

“I did push in the final session for a lap, but I think if we had managed some more then we could have been even quicker so we are happy now and ready for Brands Hatch.”

Millsport Ducati’s Jakub Smrz held second on the timesheets despite sitting out the final hour after a crash in the penultimate outing, the Czech rider holding off a charging Chris Walker on the leading Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki in third place.

Honda UK Racing’s return to the track ahead of their wildcard performances this season started positively with Frenchman Julien Da Costa holding fourth position ahead of Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins in the final stages.

James Ellison edged ahead of Dan Linfoot to lock out sixth place as Stuart Easton improved his pace in the final session onboard the second Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki. Ryuichi Kiyonari overcame a small crash on his final run to still hold ninth place ahead of his Buildbase BMW race debut at Brands Hatch, just ahead of his team-mate James Westmoreland.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship
Official test – Snetterton

Combined SBK/STK results:
1. Shane BYRNE 1m47.955
2. Jakub SMRZ 1m48.603
3. Chris WALKER 1m48.931
4. Julien DA COSTA 1m49.114
5. John HOPKINS 1m49.259
6. James ELLISON 1m49.529
7. Dan LINFOOT 1m49.703
8. Stuart EASTON 1m49.763
9. Ryuichi KIYONARI 1m49.849
10. James WESTMORELAND 1m49.941
11. Josh WATERS 1m49.979
19. STK Jason O’HALLORAN 1m51.057
27. STK David JOHNSON 1m52.372
30. 23 Mitchell CARR 1m52.542
39. STK Glen RICHARDS 1m53.035