Shane Byrne admits race wins are now his main objective after a solid but unspectacular performance during World Superbike round two in Portugal.

The 33-year-old from Sittingbourne travelled to Portimao with a point to prove having crashed and finished a disappointing 12th and 14th during the season curtain raiser in Australia last month.

However proceedings followed a similar path for Byrne early on as he fell during qualifying before battling back to start from seventh on the grid.

The Althea Racing rider – who lifted the British Superbike title in 2008 – showed clear improvements during race day to finish sixth and seventh respectively in Portugal.

Byrne picked up 19 points for his efforts and has now set his sights on rivalling Italian Max Biaggi and fellow Brit Leon Haslam, who finished first and second respectively in both races.

“I am satisfied with my results even though I know that myself and my bike have the potential to do better and really push for race wins,” said Byrne – who currently sits 12th in the Championship standings.

“In race one my setting wasn’t quite right and I wasn’t able to push things to the max – I wasn’t 100 per-cent fit either.

“But the next round is in Valencia and we tested there over the winter and I am sure that we will be able to further improve and fight for positions that count.

“There has been a lot of talk about the British guys and that they are going to be going for the championship this year but that is not something I think about at all.

“I think if you are concentrating on the British riders then you aren’t going to be thinking about the likes of Max Neukirchner and Max Biaggi and the rest of the world class riders.”

All World Superbike Championship races will be broadcast on British Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in High Definition. British Eurosport Sky 410 & Virgin Media 521, Eurosport HD Sky 412.