Byrne eased to his second British Superbike title in five years

Shane Byrne regained the British Superbike crown and then announced he had quit his GSE team to race in the World Superbike Championship in 2009.

Byrne finished third in the opening race at Silverstone knowing a top-nine finish would be enough to win his second title in five years.

He was eighth early on but when four riders crashed, including rival Leon Haslam, he moved up to third place.

He managed to stay there as team-mate Leon Camier won the race.

HM Plant Honda rider Cal Crutchlow finished second.

"What an incredible day," said Byrne.

"I really wanted to win the championship for myself and GSE Racing last time out at Croft so I can't help but feel it's a little overdue.

"But we finally got it and that's the main thing! A big, big thank you to Airwaves Ducati.

"They put a lot of faith in me at the start of the season and gave me a fantastic opportunity so I'm really pleased to repay them with the championship title."

Byrne, who did not announce which team he would race for next year, added: "I would like to extend my thanks to everyone involved who has played a part in our championship winning year."

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