Shane Byrne collected his first Superbike World championship points on Saturday.

A sixth place race one spot in Losail, Qatar helped to banish memories of his maiden outing in Austrialia which failed to yield a finish for the Sittingbourne rider.

There were much more positives to take from round two as Byrne pipped fellow Brit Tom Sykes home on his Ducati in the opening race.

Race two started well for Byrne, as he climbed up to fourth on the first corner, but tyre problems left him struggling in the latter part of the race and he slipped back to 12th.

“It was certainly a more satisfactory race than the previous one,” said Byrne.

“After a disappointing first round it was very important for me to finish the race. The sixth place is a good result, but I could’ve done better in race two, especially after that great start that took me to fourth position.

“Nevertheless, I knew from the start that something wasn’t going the way it should, as the back tyre was spinning on the circle. I had to kind of give up a little and try to get as much as possible.

“The team have done a great job and fighting for the podium in the next rounds is possible in spite of how hard-fought the competition is.”

Byrne is on 14 points and he is 16th in the rider standings after two rounds. Round three is on April 5 in Valencia, Spain.