Shane Byrne has dropped to fifth in the British Superbike title race

Shane Byrne admitted a nightmare British Superbike round of the season couldn’t have arrived at a more inopportune moment during round 11 at Silverstone.

While team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari’s title hopes have been hanging by a thread for weeks Byrne was bang in the hunt for a third title ahead of the penultimate round of the season.

However that challenge was dealt a huge blow at the flowing Northamptonshire circuit with a disastrous qualifying session – Byrne started from the fourth row – followed by an improved, but still hugely frustrating, race day.

A pair of fifth-placed finishes saw the 34-year-old drop to fourth in the overall standings and with just 75 points available at the season finale at Brands Hatch, Byrne’s 44-point deficit appears to be a bridge too far.

The battle is shaping up to be a two-horse race between American leader John Hopkins and second-placed Brit Tommy Hill with just eight points separating the duo.

“On Saturday afternoon, if you’d have offered me two fifths I’d have bit your hand off,” said Byrne. “It’s been an incredibly difficult weekend but I guess, sometimes you need a weekend like that to appreciate the better ones.

“The difficulty here now, which how many points I am behind, despite what happens to my championship, we need to try and turn things around at Brands and win three races and see where that gets us.

“It’s beyond our control now though, and there’s every chance, even if we do win three races, that I don’t think it will be enough. That said – we’ll have a lot of fun trying.

“We maybe should have had a fourth or third in that last race the way it went on. Everyone was out there trying as hard as they can, we’re all on the absolute limit.

“People have got bikes that are stronger in better areas, and they are using their best areas against other people’s weaker ones.

“And I’m trying to use my best areas against other people’s weaker ones, and it’s difficult but the level at the front there is really high and there’s no idiots our there.

“But I think for myself, and for the team, I should have been a little bit closer to the front and hopefully we will resolve that at Brands Hatch.”

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)