Shane Byrne set the fastest time in both practice sessions in round one of the 2008 British Superbike season at Brands Hatch today. Leon Camier, who is still suffering from a sore shoulder since his crash in Calafat, put in an excellent performance to come 7th and 5th.
In the first 50 minute session Byrne was on pace from the start setting quick times before taking the lead mid-way through practice. His fastest time of 1:26.998 came on his 18th lap of 20. He then completed more laps in second practice than anybody else setting consistently fast times throughout. He set the fastest lap of the day, 1:26.657 on lap 21 of 29.
Shane was pleased with his performance saying - If the rest of the season goes like this we're laughing. The whole team have worked really hard at testing to get the bike as good as it is. I have said how good it is to be back on a Ducati but to be at a race weekend on a Ducati is fantastic. Both sessions went well today and I felt really good with on the Airwaves Ducati. It has taken a bit of time getting used to Pirelli tyres but we are working well together and I am confident that I will perform well in qualifying.
Leon's fastest time of the day, 1:27.675 came towards the end of this afternoons session. He completed a total of 43 laps today, exceeding all expectations considering his shoulder injury.
He was pleased to be back on track commenting - It has been a long time coming for me but I am pleased with how things have gone today. My shoulder is sore from my Calafat crash but once I was out there today it did not cause me too many problems. I am pretty happy with my times, I have a few things I want to work on in the morning but I'm sure I will be up there in qualifying.
