Sittingbourne

Shakey Byrne celebrates victory in race one. Picture by Simon Hildrew.

Shane Byrne couldn’t hide his delight after returning to the British Superbike paddock and snatching two podium places on the opening weekend of the season at Brands Hatch.

The 34-year-old, who has spent the last two years competing in World Superbikes, returned to domestic competition in style, winning the first race and finishing third in the second.

The two-time former BSB champion’s weekend couldn’t have started more perfectly as he powered to the fastest ever lap at the Kent circuit in qualifying.

And Byrne successfully navigated a few minor hiccups to convert his pole position to a first-place finish in the opening race of the day ahead of title rival Tommy Hill.

It even looked like the HM Plant Honda rider might complete a fairytale return with a double-race win when he hit the front in race two before eventually fading to third.

Hill took the honours in race two leaving him as the early leader, four points ahead of Byrne, who is confident of soon swapping places with the Swan Yamaha rider.

“The HM Plant Honda worked well all weekend and it was really nice to be back,” said Byrne. “We have got a few things that we know we want to work on ahead of the next round but in general we had a really good weekend.

“The engineers did a great job of making sure we had a good setting for the whole race and the first race was fantastic.

“A first and a third in my first weekend with the HM Plant Honda team was not a bad start and it’s something we can build on. I feel a bit more relaxed now the first two races are out of the way.”

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