The Be Wiser Ducati racing team, based in Penrith, endured a challenging weekend at Oulton Park.

Five-times and defending champion Shane “Shakey” Byrne scored a best position of seventh in the two MCE British Superbike Championship races to slip back to third overall in the title chase.

Having qualified in second place for Sunday’s opening 18-lap race, which comprised the first round of the showdown, the dynamics changed from a dry circuit to a wet one to give the riders more to contend with.

It started well for Sittingbourne-based Byrne in the opening race as he slotted into fourth. But a misting visor meant he slipped back through the pack to finish ninth.

The result meant he was back on the fourth row for the second 18-lap encounter around the Cheshire circuit where he ended up in seventh.

“It’s a bit difficult to find the words at the moment and, after having three poor rounds, I was feeling really positive coming into Oulton Park, especially after finishing first and second here in May,” Byrne said, speaking after Sunday’s races.

“This was the part of the season I was looking forward to the most and where the real stuff was going to start but Friday was a disaster, ending the day over a second off the pace.

“Fair play to the team, they turned the bike around for qualifying and it was only my mistake that cost us pole.

“We had a wet warm-up today but I was quick and thought the race would be OK but, after about three laps of the race, I was really struggling to see.

“I don’t know what caused it but I couldn’t see a thing and, when I saw 10 laps to go on my pit board, my heart sank. I tried everything to clear the visor but ended up ninth while a poor lap time gave me a poor grid position for race two.

“I knew what I needed to do and got my head down but, when you try hard like that, you end up making mistakes, which is what I did.

"I’m not even going to look at the points table but all I know is that things can change quickly in bike racing and this is far from over.”

Meanwhile, Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin, from Carrickfergus, came 11th in race one and 12th in race two.