Shane Byrne put his qualifying catastrophe behind him to claim a third and first place finish during round four of the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton.

The Sittingbourne racer (pictured)started the opening race at the back of the grid, after a crash on lap one of qualifying the previous day, but he hauled himself up to third by the chequered flag.

He was battling with Michael Rutter for second place on the last lap and there was even better to come for the HM Plant Honda rider in race two.

Even the wet conditions had failed to deter Byrne from making amends for the earlier mishap.

He said: "That was the first time I had ridden the HM Plant Honda in the wet and it was great.

"I had some real vision problems with my visor and to be honest I couldn’t read my pit board and I only knew it was the last lap because I saw the flag on the start line.

"I thought ‘oh no it’s the last lap, I better pull my finger out’ and I couldn’t have pushed it any harder."

Byrne made an immediate claim for the lead in race two, taking it from Rutter on the first lap and he never looked back, eventually finishing ahead of second place man Peter Hickman by over 10 seconds.

"Once I got to the front I was comfortable and in a rhythm," he said.

"I could have even gone faster if I pushed a bit but a great weekend and all credit to the team."

Byrne ended the weekend with a 15 point lead ahead of second place man John Hopkins, Round five takes place at Knockhill on June 19.