The 2008 British Superbike Champion Shane Byrne scored a double victory in his final outing for the Airwaves Ducati team this weekend. Teammate Leon Camier followed a 5th in race one with a hard fought 3rd in race two, helping Ducati to secure the manufacturer’s title by 35 points.

After losing a place at the start of the first race, Shane took the lead on lap 2. Posting the fastest time of the race with a 46.194, he eventually took the chequered flag nearly 2 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Leon got away well from 6th and soon made his way up to 5th where he would remain.

At the start of race two Shane dropped to 5th and Leon 7th but both worked hard to regain places. After making his way up to 2nd on lap 15, Shane successfully closed the 1.854 second gap to the rider ahead, taking the lead on the very last lap. Crossing the line in 3rd, Leon secured his 8th podium finish of the season.

Shane was clearly delighted with his results saying, “I don’t know if there are any words to describe how I am feeling right now. This weekend marked my final ride for the Airwaves Ducati team, my final ride at my home circuit, and my final ride in BSB so to come away with a double win is absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t be happier!”

After the second race Leon commented, “I’m absolutely made up with my podium today. I managed to get past quite a few riders, made some good moves and I felt really strong. This is quite a difficult track to master as it can be hard to make up time, even after the smallest of mistakes, but the Airwaves Ducati package was perfect, I can’t thank the team enough.”

Team Manager Colin Wright added, “It has been an absolutely fabulous season. We couldn’t have asked for more from Shane, Leon and the rest of the Airwaves Ducati squad. I am very proud of what we have achieved and all I can do now is thank all of those that have helped contribute to championship number four. Roll on 2009!”

Race One Results:

1. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati
2. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
3. James Ellison – Hydrex Bike Animal Honda
4. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
5. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati

Race Two Results:

1. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati
2. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
3. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati
4. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
5. James Ellison - Hydrex Bike Animal Honda

Shane Byrne scored his 5th pole position of the 2008 British Superbike season at Brands Hatch today. Leon Camier put in a strong performance to claim 6th on the grid for tomorrow’s two 30 lap races.

Both Airwaves Ducati riders progressed through to the final phase of qualifying after posting the two fastest times in the previous session. Cutting nearly three tenths of a second off of his previous best, Shane’s pole time of 45.799 came on lap 3 of 11.

Shane was clearly delighted with his qualifying result saying, “I’m so pleased to be starting on pole for my last race weekend with Airwaves Ducati. In first qualifying we made sure we did just enough to get us through to the next stage but I pushed harder in second qualifying and was really happy with our consistent pace. In the final session I felt under pressure to get my lap time down further as I really wanted to get pole; the team’s hard work really paid off! I’m going to be pushing 100% to finish a fantastic season with a victory tomorrow.”

Leon’s best time of 46.303 came on lap 2 of an eventual 12 and will see him start on the second row tomorrow.

“It’s been a good day. I’ve been riding a lot better and I’ve worked hard on reducing my lap times. Getting a good start will be key for me tomorrow and then I think the Airwaves Ducati will be competitive throughout the two races. I’ll definitely be looking to get onto the podium once again and in doing so help Ducati to the manufacturer’s crown.”

The schedule for Round 12 of the British Superbike Championship is as follows:

Race One – 1400hrs
Race Two – 1645hrs

Qualifying Results:

1. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati 45.799
2. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda 46.096
3. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda 46.118
4. Tom Sykes – Rizla Suzuki 46.201
5. James Ellison – Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 46.255
6. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati 46.303

Want to own an exclusive British Superbike Champion’s race helmet? Shane Byrne is giving you the chance to do just that!

Shane will be auctioning the one-of-a-kind helmet he wore for the first race at the 8th round of the season at Oulton Park. The newly crowned champion and Airwaves Ducati rider has decided to auction the helmet in order to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Shane has been influenced personally by the work done at Macmillan Cancer Support and will give 100% of the proceeds to the charity.

Shane said: “I suffered a big loss in my life because of cancer. I hope that the money raised from the auction of this helmet can go some way, however big or small, towards helping others similarly affected whilst also highlighting the great work carried out by the people at Macmillan Cancer Support.”

Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to win your very own piece of Airwaves Ducati and British Superbike history!

The bidding will close on 12th October 2008 at 17:23:37 BST

To find out more log onto www.ebay.co.uk

To follow the Airwaves Ducati team check out www.airwaves-ducati.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions:

This auction operates under the standard eBay for charity auction rules: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/buyer-rules-overview.html

The final race weekend of the 2008 British Superbike season got underway at Brands Hatch today. Newly crowned champion Shane Byrne finished both free practice sessions in 3rd. His Airwaves Ducati teammate Leon Camier finished 5th and 6th.

Shane used the days two practice sessions to complete race runs and worked hard to produce consistently quick laps in both. His best time of 46.322 came in the afternoon on lap 10 of 37. Completing more laps than any other rider, Leon’s fastest time of 46.724 also came in the second of the two sessions.

After a positive first day, Shane was feeling confident about the weekend ahead saying, “The Airwaves Ducati team has done a fantastic job once again. We approached practice as we have done all season, focusing on two long race runs. In both we have been consistently quick and I’m confident we can find the extra couple of tenths that we need to be at the top of the timesheets tomorrow.”

Leon commented, “I really like Brands Hatch but as I have never ridden the Indy circuit on a superbike before, I had to spend time building up my knowledge of the track and getting myself into a rhythm. We’ve got a few changes that we’d like to make to the Airwaves Ducati for practice in the morning and then I think we’ll be in good shape for a strong qualifying performance.”

Qualifying for round twelve of the British Superbike Championship starts tomorrow, Saturday October 11th at 1400hrs.

After sealing the British Superbike Championship a fortnight ago, the Airwaves Ducati team travels to Brands Hatch this weekend intent on helping Ducati secure the 2008 manufacturers title.

Aboard the 1098R, Shane Byrne and Leon Camier have so far claimed 11 victories and a further 15 podium places, helping Ducati to a 25 point lead in the championship standings.

Shane is looking forward to the racing action ahead and is focused on adding to his and Ducati’s win tally.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have taken the British Superbike Championship at Silverstone for Airwaves Ducati and GSE Racing. Now I can’t wait to go to Brands Hatch, GSE Racing’s home circuit, and go out there and enjoy myself knowing that the Championship is mine. I’m going to be pushing 100% to get back onto the top step of the podium and hopefully sign the season off in style!”

Silverstone race winner Leon is also confident of scoring more good results this weekend.

“I’ve been training hard in the past fortnight so I will be heading to Brands Hatch in really good physical shape. I’ve won at each of the last couple of rounds and feel like we’re on a roll so I’m looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully we will finish the season with another victory for the Airwaves Ducati team.”

Round 12 of the Bennetts British Superbike championship takes place on Sunday 12th October.

Leon Camier took a superb victory in race one, following this with 4th in race two. GSE Racing is now the most successful British Superbike team of all time with a total of four championship titles.From their second row starting positions Leon and Shane were 7th and 8th respectively when a number of incidents at the front promoted them to 2nd and 3rd. Leon then took the lead on lap 9 with Shane remaining in the final podium spot.

Following race two Leon commented, “Today has been fantastic. I’m so pleased to have won again, and I’m absolutely delighted that Shane secured the championship. No one deserves it more than him. I have to say a big thank you to the Airwaves Ducati team; they’ve worked really hard over the weekend to give me a bike that was so good on the brakes that it made my job of overtaking a whole lot easier. I’m a little disappointed not to have got back on the podium in the second race but I’m really pleased with how I was riding and now can’t wait to get to Brands Hatch.”

Team Manager Colin Wright added “It has been a fantastic season for us, we started the year with new bikes, two new riders and different tyres to contend with. Obviously our goal was to win the championship but to be celebrating the win with everything new is a massive achievement for GSE Racing. We have won 4 British Championships in the last 10 years! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this superb record.”

Race One Results:

1. Leon Camier - Airwaves Ducati
2. Cal Crutchlow - HM Plant Honda
3. Shane Byrne - Airwaves Ducati

Race Two Results:

1. Leon Haslam - HM Plant Honda
2. Shane Byrne - Airwaves Ducati
3. Tom Sykes - Rizla Suzuki
4. Leon Camier - Airwaves Ducati

Tomorrow GSE Racing will be looking to achieve their 4th British Superbike title. Airwaves Ducati riders Shane Byrne and Leon Camier will start round 11 from the second row of the grid. Championship leader Shane qualified 6th and Leon 7th with only 0.039 seconds separating the pair.

Knowing he needs just a top 10 finish tomorrow to secure the 2008 title, Shane commented,

“I went as fast as I felt necessary today. Towards the end of qualifying I decided to push a little harder but made a couple of mistakes. Fortunately they weren’t big mistakes but big enough for me to think about the championship being at stake. After that I rode at 99% but still managed to achieve a1:26.136 lap and bring the Airwaves Ducati home! Although I’m a little disappointed not to be on the front row I am pleased with my times today. Both Leon and I have a really good race pace which is what the Airwaves Ducati team has been working towards all weekend and I think we should be in great shape for tomorrow’s races.”

Leon worked hard to improve his lap times over qualifying with his fastest time of 1:26.175 coming on lap 4 of 7 in the final session.

“We made a big change to the Airwaves Ducati this morning ahead of practice and I’m really confident we’ve made a step forward with our race pace. Although the settings aren’t ideal for one quick qualifying lap, we’ve focused on getting ourselves the best possible set up for the races”.

The schedule for Round 11 of the British Superbike Championship is as follows:

Race One – 1315
Race Two – 1625
Qualifying Results:

1. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda 1:25.489
2. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda 1:25.790
3. Michael Rutter – North West 200 Ducati 1:25.952
4. Karl Harris – Team Yamaha 1:25.976
5. Tom Sykes – Rizla Suzuki 1:26.012
6. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati 1:26.136
7. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati 1:26.175

Airwaves Ducati riders Shane Byrne and Leon Camier made a promising start to round 11 of the British Superbike Championship at Silverstone today. Shane, who needs just a top 10 finish this Sunday to be crowned 2008 Champion, finished both of the day’s practice sessions 3rd. Teammate Leon topped the timesheets in the morning and was 6th fastest in the afternoon.

Fresh from his second British Superbike victory a fortnight ago, Leon was immediately on the pace today. His best time of 1:26.927 came on lap 18 of 24 and was the fastest in first practice.

“I’m pretty happy with how today has gone. The practice session this morning really helped me to get into the flow of riding the Airwaves Ducati around here and then this afternoon allowed us to try some changes. Just before the second session was red flagged I had gone out to try something new, but unfortunately that will now have to wait until tomorrow. It’s looking really positive and we still have some adjustments to try tomorrow.”

Shane completed a total of 50 laps over the two sessions and recorded his best time of the day early on in second practice, matching Leon’s fastest lap of 1:26.927 from this morning.

“You can normally make assumptions before a race weekend as to which circuits the Airwaves Ducati will suit and which it won’t as much, but to be honest we weren’t too sure about Silverstone. Fortunately the Airwaves Ducati has worked really well straight away. I did a fairly long run in the morning session and then in the afternoon we went further than a full race distance with some good consistent times. I’ll look over the data with my Airwaves Ducati engineer this evening to identify ways in which we can make improvements for tomorrow and hopefully kick up a gear and go even quicker.”

Qualifying for round 11 of the Bennetts British Superbike championship commences tomorrow, Saturday September 27th 2008 at 1400.

Airwaves Ducati head to Silverstone this weekend looking to secure GSE Racing’s 4th British Superbike championship title. Rider Shane Byrne needs a single top 10 finish at the penultimate round of the series to lift the coveted trophy and be crowned 2008 champion.

A frustrating weekend last time out at Croft saw the 2003 champion finishing 5th and 4th however with a lead of 94 points in the championship, Shane has his sights set on clinching the title this Sunday.

“I’m a bit disappointed not to have won the title in the previous round at Croft, but now I’m fully refreshed and heading to Silverstone where I have a very good chance of taking it, and that is what I and the rest of the Airwaves Ducati team have been working for. I like to be on maximum attack, riding on the limit, but I have to ensure that I don’t fall down and that I take the championship – it will be good to get the job done in the first race at Silverstone”

After securing his second British Superbike victory a fortnight ago, Leon Camier is feeling confident of adding to his win tally this weekend.

“Although I was disappointed not to have got on to the podium in the second race, winning race one at Croft was a huge confidence boost so I’m really looking forward to Silverstone and hopefully getting back on the top step of the podium. Until we get some laps under our belt I’m not too sure how the Airwaves Ducati will work around there but I know that the whole of the Airwaves Ducati team will work hard to give me the best possible package come race day.”

Round 11 of the Bennetts British Superbike championship takes place on Sunday 28th September