Kent duo dominate British superbikes
Published: 10:30, 16 June 2008
Kent superbike riders Shane Byrne and Leon Camier achieved a win and second place apiece at Snetterton in round five of the British Superbike championship.
Camier, from Ashford, enjoyed the first BSB win of his career in race one, with Byrne, from Sittingbourne, taking the honours in the second race on Sunday.
Camier held the lead for the majority of race one, holding off a late challenge from his Airwaves Ducati team-mate on the last lap to take his maiden BSB win. Championship leader Shane Byrne was in fourth place until lap 15, when he moved up to second within three laps to cross the line 0.09 seconds behind his team-mate.
The start of race two was delayed by over an hour as heavy rain fell and the track conditions were continuously reassessed.
Camier got a brilliant start over the revised race distance of 15 laps, stretching out the lead until the penultimate lap.
Byrne, who dropped to 13th when a competitor crashed in front of him, worked his way through the field to overtake his team mate on lap 14 to take the chequered flag and his seventh win of the season.
Following the first win of his BSB career, Camier said: “Thanks must go to the Airwaves Ducati team for all their hard work, they have been brilliant all weekend and my results are really down to them.
"I am so pleased to have got my first win in BSB for the Airwaves Ducati team, we have worked hard for it and it is a great feeling now we have achieved what we knew we were capable of.
"I will use this experience to build on the rest of the season and I can’t wait to get to Mallory Park in a couple of weeks and try to achieve another win for the team.”
Byrne now leads the championship by 83 points but is pleased about his team-mate’s success.
He said: "It has been a fantastic weekend for the Airwaves Ducati team; I am really pleased for Leon, he had a fantastic first race and deserved that win.
"I was pleased I was able to take second place behind him but I was determined to get a win in race two.
"I didn’t make it easy for myself though, Karl Harris crashed in front of me and I had to stop to avoid him, I got going again but had to push hard to make my way up to the front of the pack again.
"I was feeling confident that I could win it and I am so pleased I was able to.
"A double one-two is brilliant for Airwaves Ducati and GSE Racing, all the credit has to go to the team for preparing a fantastic Ducati 1098R.”
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