Shakey starts again.

After a five-week break in the 2003 British Superbike Championship, MonsterMob Ducati rider Shane Byrne is eager to get back into race action as the series heads to the half way stage at Brands Hatch this weekend.

The Minster, Isle of Sheppey rider is hoping to continue his dominance having stamped his authority on the championship with eight wins out of the ten races held to date and with a brace of second places also for good measure 'Shakey' holds a massive 104 point advantage over nearest rival Michael Rutter going into revamped Kent circuit.

Seven of those wins have come in the last seven races including successive doubles at Thruxton, Oulton Park and in the last round at Knockhill and if the 26 year old can emulate another such feat, he will go into the record books as the only rider in the history of the championship to score four consecutive doubles in a season.

But despite his recent run, the local ace is under no illusions as to the task in hand, even though he can undoubtedly count on the support of thousands of his fans at his local track:

"Five weeks is a long time and I can't wait to get back on my bike. Some of the other riders have been racing or testing since the last round but I'm confident we can get up to speed fairly quickly at Brands. I'm really looking forward to racing at my home circuit and hopefully I can give the fans something to cheer about," said Byrne.

Team-mate Stuart Easton is also hoping for success at the circuit where he impressed at last season. The 18-year-old Hawick rider won the corresponding Supersport race by over fourteen seconds last season and also posted a top ten placing in the World Supersport Championship round on the same track during 2002.

However, this season the young Scot has not had it all his own way and is desperate to get back to winning ways having taken just one victory all season aboard the 748cc MonsterMob Ducati but still lies second in the points table.

"I really need to win this weekend and hope that Karl Harris (series leader) drops some points so I can close the gap on him. We've suffered through various problems in the opening few races but when everything's gone well, I've cleared off and I aim to do that again on Sunday," said the defending champion.

After masterminding a successful TT campaign for Ducati which saw them achieve a pair of rostrum places in the capable hands of John McGuinness, team owner Paul Bird is keen to carry on where the team left off at Knockhill in Scotland:

"Shakey knows we can't rest on our laurels and he'll be going all out to increase that championship lead this weekend," said the Cumbrian businessman. "He's under a lot of pressure to perform but he can handle that and if he keeps going the way he has been in recent weeks, there'll be no stopping him. Stuart dominated here last year and he's expecting another good result so hopefully we can come away with another hat-trick."

Bird promised at the start of the year that if both riders took their respective titles, the reward for the team would be an all-expenses paid trip to the Caribbean at the end of the season!

The Monstermob team will also be announcing a new associate sponsor on Friday evening (20th) at Brands Hatch.