Shane Byrne made a flying start to the defence of his British Superbike title at Donington Park on Easter Monday.

The Sittingbourne rider finished runner-up behind James Ellison in race one before pipping Dan Linfoot to win the second race after an intense battle.

Byrne was lucky to be racing at all having broken his hand testing his PBM Kawasaki just a month ago.

He said: "Honestly I didn't know what to expect this weekend. I said after race one that I felt quietly confident that we would get stronger but I didn't expect to go one stronger in race two to be honest.

"We have all been around a long time and we know you can never expect anything.

"I was a little disappointed after qualifying as we were two tenths off, but the reality is I should have only taken the plaster off my hand on the Thursday before this race so to leave with a second and first place, I really can’t grumble.

"We have been working really hard this weekend to get a better feeling and now it is onwards and upwards."