Sittingbourne's Shane Byrne admitted he was left playing catch-up during World Superbike round 11 at the Nurburgring after a crash during qualifying ruined any high hopes he had.

The 33-year-old, pictured, was sent tumbling towards the start of the first round of qualifying in Germany and paid the price.

Byrne started from 17th on the grid on race day but did manage to finish inside the top 10 on both occasions - ninth in race one and 10th in race two.

His British rival Jonathan Rea took victory in race one while Noriyuki Haga climbed to the top step of podium for the first time since April after winning race two.

And Bryne admitted had he not crashed he could have been pressing towards the podium places.

“I showed that I had the pace to be up there right from the very first practice session and I had high hopes for two great races despite the crash,” said the Althea Racing rider.

“But unfortunately the crash during qualifying compromised the whole weekend and I didn’t really achieve what I came to the Nurburgring hoping to do."

World Superbike Championship races are broadcast on Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in high definition. Eurosport is on Sky 410 and Virgin Media 521. Eurosport HD is on Sky 412 and Virgin Media 522.