The double British Superbike champion qualified on row two of the grid but any hopes of improving on his third place in the championship standings disappeared when a mechanical problem forced him out when challenging for the lead in the opening race.

With a change of engine for race two, Shakey bounced back to record a second place finish to keep his championship bid on track after the hectic 16-lap event at the red hot Norfolk track.

It was a similar story for Scotsman Stuart Easton who also qualified on row two aboard his Kawasaki ZX-10R and ended up retiring with an electrical problem in the opening race. However, Easton too found race two slightly kinder to him when he recorded an eighth place finish to maintain his all-important top six place in the title race.

Stuart Easton: "A tough day at the races, really. I started the weekend with a struggle and never really gelled with the circuit having missed it last year. Honestly speaking, I was on the back foot, so to come from 20th after free practice and then qualify on the second row was pretty good.

In race one, the bike stopped on the first lap when I was running seventh and in the lead group so that put me 17th on the grid for race two and I came through for an eighth place finish. We've worked hard for eight points and that's not really what we came for. But we're still in the top six and the next three circuits are all tracks that I enjoy so I'll just go away, keep training and focus on scoring some stronger finishes."

Shane Byrne: "The first race was a bit disappointing but it happens in racing from time to time so we just had to focus on the second outing. Michael Laverty went off like a scalded cat and I didn't really have an answer for him. I eventually got to second and just tried to maintain my pace but then Josh Brookes came back at me and I honestly thought the penultimate lap was the last lap. I was weaving all over the track trying to keep Josh behind and stop him from getting a tow and then I came round and saw the last lap flag! Fortunately I fought him off and second here is great, we'll take that after the disappointment of race one."

Note: Ninja ZX-10R 2011 models now on 4 year 0% Finance in UK dealers

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