Double success for Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and Penrith's Be Wiser Ducati team at Brands Hatch

Riding the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Penigale R, the five-time defending champion battled the elements through the opening 20-lap race.

As rain threatened, Byrne bounced back from ninth place to take the lead through the closing laps when the race was red-flagged due to the expected wet weather.

That result provided Byrne’s 81st career victory, and 16th around the historic Grand Prix circuit. With it, he also clinched the lead in the drivers’ championship for the first time this season.

Starting the second race from the front row, Shakey made a great getaway off the line to grab the lead on the opening lap. Upping the lap record, he soon made his escape at the front.

When early challenger Josh Brookes crashed out of the fight, Byrne never looked back and claimed the win by six seconds to make it four wins a row and his second double victory this month.

Byrne also won the coveted King of Brands trophy for the second year in succession.

Team-mate Glenn Irwin found the going tough on his comeback from injury and was unlucky to miss out on a points-scoring finish in race one – eventually crossing the line in 16th place.

In the second race, Irwin was locked in a six-way battle for 12th place.

Despite still being far from fit, the Carrickfergus rider maintained good pace and was rewarded for his efforts with 14th place and two hard-earned points.

“It’s been a fantastic day for Shakey and although it wasn’t an easy first race, he fought back brilliantly after dropping back and overtaking so many riders to get back into the lead,” said technical director Phil Borley. “It was a fantastic ride and a great win.

“He made a good start in the second race and as soon as he got to the front, he controlled things perfectly. He maximised the potential he’d shown in the dry and a double win and ten podium credits is great from a championship perspective.

“For Glenn, he obviously did the best he could given his fitness levels and he rode really well in his first race back after what was a pretty bad injury. He just missed out on the points in race one but managed a couple in the second which will be a big lift for him.

“Coming back from injury is never easy but he’s got the first race out of the way now and knows what he can do so I’m confident he’ll be a lot higher up the order at Thruxton when he’ll be closer to 100 per cent fitness.”

Elsewhere on four wheels, heavy rain and high drama made for an unpredictable eighth round of the ADAC GT Masters season at Zandvoort in The Netherlands – where Carlisle’s Alex MacDowall and team-mate Klaus Bachler overcame the odds to post a hard-earned top-10 finish.

Arriving at Zandvoort with a fully rebuilt Porsche following a huge car-wrecking accident at the Red Bull Ring last month, two clean races were very much needed and, in the first dry race on Saturday, the duo climbed from 19th to 13th overall. With Bachler taking the opening stint, he was up to 14th by the start of lap two.

MacDowall joined the race with 27 minutes left on the clock and held 15th positon as the race order settled.

Moving up to 14th place, the action then fell under Safety Car conditions with just over 10 minutes remaining – due to a car in the gravel trap which ultimately elevated MacDowall to 13th place which he held to the chequered flag, 0.4 seconds shy of the top-10 on the dash to the line.

Rain arrived on Sunday and MacDowall was set to take the first stint of the eighth round from 24th position on the grid.

At the end of the first formation laps however, the Cumbrian pulled into the pits to change to full-wet weather tyres.

“We thought we’d got nothing to lose starting race two so far back,” said the Carlisle driver. “So we gambled on slicks but I said we needed to box for wets straight away on the formation lap.

“By the time we fitted the tyres, the second formation lap had just completed so we didn’t lose that much time really.”

More comfortable with the wet set-up, MacDowall quickly made his way through the pack. By lap nine, he had climbed to 22nd place before the first of four Safety Car period intervened.

Holding 19th place as the Safety Car circulated, he and many others made for the pits for the obligatory driver-change stops. Bachler climbed aboard and re-joined the race inside the top-10 before moving further up the field into seventh position.

He then had to serve a drive-through penalty before the Safety Car was recalled – emerging in 14th position before taking 13th.

“The car was good in the wet but then the pit-stop was chaos,” said MacDowall. “There were cars everywhere.

“I think because of how congested the pitlane was, we were closer to the fast lane and when Klaus left the pits, it meant it was a shorter distance into the fast lane – so our stop was fractionally too quick.”

As the racing resumed with just minutes to go, a multi-car tangle brought out another Safety Car which remained on track until the finish.

With three cars coming to grief, Bachler assumed 10th place and a great result for the duo with all things considered.

“To be honest, the Porsches have been off the pace all weekend,” said MacDowall after the race. “The balance of performance needs to change as we’re all struggling.

“Our performance was closer in the wet, but in the dry there was a big gap to the other cars. It’s such a close championship and so competitive so you need to be in the fight at least. Hopefully things will change for the next round.”

Germany’s Nurburging will host rounds nine and 10 of the season next month.