Shane Byrne feels like he’s starting the British Superbike season all over again.

Riders head to Knockhill in Scotland as round four of the championship begins this weekend – the first meeting in six weeks following an early-season break.

Sittingbourne man Byrne, who trails Alex Lowes by a point in the standings, said: "We’ve had so long off I’m tempted to take an orange vest and some L-plates!

"It’s the same for everybody but it’s too early to have such a big gap.

"The break normally comes in August, when you’re knocking on the door of the Showdown.

"With the bad weather at the start of the year, everybody was behind where they ought to be. Now we’ve had this early-season break, which wasn’t really necessary.

"It’s like fitness. You spend months training to get to a certain level but if you stop, you go back to the beginning.

"It feels like the start of the season again but we have to remind ourselves we’ve been winning races and have podium credits in the bag."