Stobart Vent Axia VK Motorsport riders Tom Sykes and Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne will start tomorrow’s final two rounds of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship from the front row following today’s qualifying session at Brands Hatch in Kent.
For the first time this season with both riders on row one, 21 year old Sykes and 30 year old Byrne held first and second positions for much of the 50 minute session as the top riders fought it out around the tight Indy circuit but despite putting laps in underneath the lap record, Yorkshireman Sykes had to settle for second place on the grid with Zurich residing Londoner Byrne in fourth.
The result of qualifying means that both riders are well placed to continue their great form this season as Sykes goes in search of his first victory following on five podiums in the last six races and Byrne, fresh from a podium finish at Donington last time out will be looking to add another win at his local circuit, to the one he scored at Mallory.
Tom Sykes: “We had a fairly steady start to the weekend, but we’ve built up and we changed a lot of things for the final free practice which set us up perfectly for qualifying. It’s another front row start which is much needed around this circuit, I’m happy with my race set up, and I’ve got a really good Dunlop tyre. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hope to get some good results to round off an absolutely fantastic year for which I cannot thank Paul Bird and the boys enough.”
Shane Byrne: “I’m quite happy with that. I was a bit unlucky with the second qualifier not to go any quicker as it took me a while to get past Leon Haslam and by then the qualifier was finished. At the end of the day it’s a front row start but I did it on the spare bike because we had a problem, so the boys have done a great job again for me, as have Dunlop tyres.”
Paul Bird: “I’m ecstatic. It’s as good as a win having them both on the front row. We’ve got a lot of guests here from Vent Axia so it’s brilliant, especially with Shakey doing it on his spare bike. We had a plan and it all came to fruition and well done to the boys. I’m sure they’ll be in the mix tomorrow, it just keeps getting better and better.”
