Sittingbourne's Shane Byrne insists there was little he could do to prevent World Superbike round six at Kyalami being one of his toughest meetings so far this season.

The 33-year-old was left with an uphill battle in South Africa after disappointing qualifying saw him languishing down in 18th place.

Byrne (pictured) did make up places in both races but was one of several riders to suffer performance and grip issues, finishing 15th and 13th in race one and two respectively.

Italian Michel Fabrizio had no such trouble, cruising to victory in race one before championship leader Leon Haslam took the honours in race two.

Byrne, who sits 160 points behind Haslam in 12th place overall with 62 points, was left to admit he was simply fighting a losing battle at the South African circuit.

"I knew it was going to be tough on race day and as expected it was," said Byrne.

"The second race was better than the first but that didn’t stop it being frustrating. I was angry when I got off the bike after qualifying because no one wants to be 18th and it makes race day that little bit harder."

World Superbike Championship races will be broadcast on Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in High Definition on Eurosport Sky 410 and Virgin Media 521 while Eurosport HD is on Sky 412 and Virgin Media 522.