Sittingbourne racer Shane Byrne’s World Superbike Championship future is in doubt after being told his contract with Althea Racing Ducati will not be renewed.

Team mate Carlos Checa – who picked up back to back victories in the penultimate round in Imola at the weekend – has been confirmed as the team’s leading rider for the 2011 season.

But former British Superbike champion Byrne will leave the factory Ducati team at the end of the current campaign due to what team boss Genesio Bevilacqua described as ‘economics’.

It was a disappointing end to an ultimately promising weekend for Byrne – nicknamed Shakey – who completed his best result of the season in Italy.

Byrne finished sixth in race two – equalling his highest finish of the year – after crossing the line in eighth in the first race.

The 33-year-old was in no mood for talking about his future in the sport – but admitted his on-track exploits has been a welcome boost.

“I was playing catch up really after only finishing on the fourth row in superpole,” said Byrne, who will compete in his final round for the Althea Racing Ducati squad at Magny Cours this weekend.

“I just wanted to go out and race hard and that’s what I did. I apologised to the team after qualifying because they had worked so hard.”

Meanwhile, Italian Max Biaggi was crowned world champion in front of his home crowd despite finishing off the podium in both races.

Checa won the race plaudits by claiming a double victory but it was Biaggi who stole the show.

The Roman Emperor was not at his best on home soil, finishing 11th and fifth, but that was enough to see him claim his fifth world title – his first in the premier world superbike class.

World Superbike Championship races will be broadcast on Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in High Definition. Eurosport Sky 410 & Virgin Media 521. Eurosport HD is on Sky 412 and Virgin Media 522.