Byrne fastest at Portimao test.

Sure, it's a bit early to read too much in to the testing times but it seems clear that the contigent of British racers are all hungry for success and not afraid of anyone: not Biaggi, Corser, Xaus, or Neukirchner, et al.

They should be all over the rostrum in 2009. Ergo, we can expect a memorable season on the World stage.

Better get practising the National Anthem!

I have alsways been a fan of Shakey and i am glad he is in WSBK now.

I think we will see some intresting battles in 2009, shakey definitly deserves a factory seat

I'm so glad shakey has got a Ducati ride in WSBK, on a Ducati i think he can really show his talent and get some good strong podium finishes in 2009.

I think if he was going over there on a Japanese bike he would not display he skills aswell.

byrne and ducati go hand in hand, sound familiar.....BAYLISS rings a bell. he'll be being watched closely by Xerox!!!

Confident that byrne can win plenty in a strong field in 09 which will show how good he is.

You brits sure make me laugh. Shakey, haslam, sykes and the rest of the overrated british "super talents". Its better to be a big fish in a small pond, lets see how they do when released in a big pond. Haga, biaggi, corser, checa and naukirchner are going to eat them alive.
2009 Bring it on!! Muhahaha.

Nice lap times from Shakey and Spies, but one have to remember that that track is so new, every time they go on the track the grip level rises due to more rubber on the new tarmac, one can assume the grip level towards the end of this test was better than at Sunday during the races.

Hi all! Does anybody know Schumacher's laptime?

Tarzaan

One of those delusional Brits here.

Hey it's just the Winter WSBK championship for which there is no: trophy, accolades or recognition, and that applies to everyone.

Oh and by the way ''ponds'', didn't Haslam and Byrne both do MotoGP? OK so they sank a bit, but they've experienced the ''pond''.

for a bunch of small fish they have done fairly well so far this year in the various wild cards......

@Maaa H

Dude, you should not judge people like that. I am a Shakey ever ever since i have seen him ride on the fastbikes vids, and i am not even Brithish. And guess what, I am a Bayliss and Stoner fan, and i am not Australia either.

Let's look at Shakey's performance at Portimao in relation to Haslam.. Haslam fought off most of the 'big fish' in the 'big pond' to bag a podium finish on Sunday, and therefore knows the Portimao circuit far better than Byrne did before testing. Yet Shakey, on an RS08 (slightly inferior to his BSB F08) manages to top the timesheets after just two days of testing, and pull best part of 1 second per lap on Haslam. And look at what he did to Haslam in Race 2 at Brands Indy a few weeks ago... Reeled him in over the course of 10 laps no problem whatsoever. If Byrne had been in that Portimao race on the same Sterilgarda Ducati, he'd have bagged a definite second place, maybe pushing Bayliss too..

@maaah
only time will tell granted but the one thing you can never knock is the british mentality even when they arent on the best machine's they will never stop trying and if there's a chance of a win they will go for it. (the bulldog spirit )

i am well pleased with the amount of brits on the world stage for 09,but lets not get to excited by lap times in testing.also lets not start knocking any riders before the season even starts.if we can get 2 british riders in the top ten next season(final standings)with a podium at each round from any british rider then i would say thats not abad season to start with.

Shakey's times are phenominal as are Spies. I predict some of these new bloods coming up and making a go at the championship. I bet a lot of the current racers (Biaggi, Corser, Haga) thought that with Bayliss going, they would make a mark for themselves next year. However, some of these new talents (who have raced hard for years) will potentially spoil their party. Spies is a Rossi like talent, you saw how good he did on the MotoGP Suzuki (which was a cr@p bike), he also loves the hunt and will overtake like Rossi, in the most unlikely places. Also, if next year is like this year, with the weather, the Brits will have an excellent chance at the championship. Should be a great year.

cant wait till next year

@maaa h. Those 'overrated British talents' have provided more than their fair share of WSBK champions over the years. Of the ones you mentioned I believe all of them also have WSBK podiums as wildcards. The WSBK regulars dread the UK rounds because the wildcards give them such a hard time, including a double win by Byrne in '03. You would be foolish to underestimate them because I'm damned sure Biaggi and the rest that you mentioned won't be. Actually, weren't most of those guys beaten by Brit wildcards last weekend?

Well put Ian............
"weren't most of those guys beaten by Brit wildcards last weekend?" Hitting the nail on the head!!!

Well put Ian............
"weren't most of those guys beaten by Brit wildcards last weekend?" Hitting the nail on the head!!!

@ Nitro Nori
Theres no way the Sterilgarda bike can be described as "inferior" to the BSB spec version. The reason Airwaves didn't do wildcards was because of the expense involved in building a "competetive WSB spec engine". Shakey is doing an excellent job, but seriously, he's not on a dog!

Okey, they might be slightly competitive on unfamiliar ground like portimao. Personally i belive the resaults they got was down to almost no dry track time at all, and the fact that portimao was unknown to everyone. Its a well known fact that wet conditions changes everyting. Even xaus became competitive on the wet in motogp, which says it all.
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And thers no doubt they have an huge advantage when given wildcard rides on british tracks like brands. Circuts they know every square inch of tarmac on, and if even if you wont admit it yourself, this isnt exactly first class circuits. And that it rains from thursday to sunday when race weekend comes dont make it any easier. It may take years to learn the track due to the lack of dry time you get to spend. WSBK, motogp and the rest of the international race series only visits these circuts once a year, not a billion times a month like BSB and the rest of the british race series do.
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