British Superbike Championship: Shane Byrne ready to defy a broken hand in title defence

Byrne suffered the injury in pre-season

Shane Byrne on his way to winning at Brands Hatch last year

Shane Byrne starts the defence of his British Superbike Championship title at Donington Park on Saturday nursing the hand that he broke in pre-season testing, but with a clear message to the circling vultures: “My intention is to win two races and do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

Byrne, 38, will learn when he plunges his 1000cc Kawasaki down the 140mph right-left sweeps of Craner Curves whether an operation, treatment in a hyperbaric chamber and laser therapy have given him a race-fit left hand. Hyperbaric therapy uses a special chamber to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood. The hand – and his psyche – will have to cope with two 20-lap races on Monday at the 2.5-mile circuit, surrounded by nearly 40 other rivals on their 220-horsepower machines.

Byrne is a family man with two children. So what was his reaction when he came off the Kawasaki at the Almeria circuit in Spain a month ago?

“You come to a rest in the gravel trap and you know you’ve broken something,” he said. “But your first thought is, ‘When can I get back on the bike?’ It makes you realise you love this sport so much. It makes you even hungrier. It’s a blessing because it makes you push even harder.”

Talk about looking on the bright side. Byrne is the most senior of the title contenders, and two years older than another evergreen, Valentino Rossi, who duffed up younger challengers to win the opening round of the MotoGP series in Qatar last week.

But the Kentishman clearly feels the fire of a teenager in his soul when he straddles a racing motorcycle. And indeed, it is a 19-year-old, the Supersport rider Jake Dixon, who inspired Byrne’s winter training programme.

“I’m old enough to be his dad, but Jake to me is another rival,” Byrne said. “I’m so determined every time we go out cycling or to the gym. I want to do heavier weights and a better time on the bike, and I want to beat him up every climb.”

Byrne’s refusal to succumb could pay off. The final pre-season test session took place at a cold and slippery Donington last week – hardly the circumstances in which you would expect an injured rider to shine. But far from looking vulnerable, Byrne lapped fastest. On Sunday he confronts a qualifying session, and then the big show on Monday. After that the series takes in 11 more rounds before the finale at Brands Hatch in October.

Ironically, Byrne may be aided in his desire to take a record fifth British Superbike title by a scoring system which weights the final three meetings in order to guarantee the fans a last-round shoot-out for the title – an arrangement he has criticised in the past.

He and his Paul Bird Motorsport crew are usually meticulously prepared for the season and rack up a series of early wins. Byrne feels the late-season weighting undermines their work, and there are purists who back his position.

But the system, instigated by BSB race director Stuart Higgs, could make life easier for Byrne if his robust mental attitude is not rewarded by immediate wins this time. It could let him focus on placings rather than victories while the broken hand mends, and rely on a late-season spurt.

There is a final factor that could play in his favour. Some teams are bedding in new machinery this year, including the Milwaukee Yamaha squad headed by Josh Brookes. The Australian is a savvy race strategist who can also display searing speed, but in six years of competing in Britain he has never yet found that elusive combination of set-up and good luck that might enable him to take the title.

“You have to think that the teams with the new bikes will have to get up to speed. Now is the time to capitalise,” says Byrne, the wily veteran with the heart of an adolescent.