Shane Byrne had the luxury of experimenting at MCE Insurance British Superbike round nine at Cadwell Park – but he knows that will be the case no more with the six Showdown riders now confirmed.

Byrne (pictured) was safe in the knowledge that no matter what happened in Lincolnshire he would be one of the six riders to breakaway and battle for the title in the Showdown during the last three rounds.

However that didn’t stop him chalking up some impressive finishes with the HM Plant Honda rider first promoted to third in the opening race of the weekend on Sunday following Josh Brookes’ disqualification.

Byrne followed that up with another third in race two on Bank Holiday Monday but try as he might he couldn’t make it third time lucky in race three as he was edged into fourth.

He will now join Swan Yamaha duo Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty, who shared the three wins at Cadwell, as well as Brookes, American John Hopkins and HM Plant Honda teammate Ryuichi Kiyonari in the Showdown.

However, despite ending the first nine rounds on top with 300 points, he will go into the Showdown second due to having less podium credits, points given for finishing in the top three, than Hill.

With each riders total bumped up to 500 and podium credits then added Hill leads the way with 529, seven ahead of Byrne, who is bidding for his third BSB title.

“We were very fortunate at Cadwell Park that we raced having already made it through to the Showdown because of the job good the HM Plant Honda team have done all year,” said Byrne.

“The weekend was all about those podium credits and making improvements for the Showdown. We worked with some new parts and the first laps of race two were difficult as the bike felt different.

“I had a moment at the Hairpin when I hit a false neutral but I was able to get back into a rhythm and get some points.”

British Eurosport 2 will be broadcasting every round of the 2011 British Superbike Championship. The channel is available on Sky 411 & Virgin Media 525. Watch online via the Eurosport Player ( www.eurosportplayer.co.uk)