GixerGaz
13-12-2006, 14:39
Shane "Shakey" Byrne has returned to the team that saw him lift the British Superbike title in 2003. The Stobart Honda team, owned by Paul Bird are as keen to win as Shakey is and together again they could be hard to beat.
In a recent interview with Byrne at the team launch and this is what he had to say.......
When did the Stobart deal come about?
Not very long ago at all. I spoke with Birdy back at Brands Hatch at the last round of the year and we were quite keen to get something done. Then there were a number of possibilities for me World championship wise and I was quite keen, after the season that I've had, to get back out of BSB and go either World Superbike or back into Moto GP and it looked like there was going to be some good options and I pursued them for a bit. Paul told me at the end of the race season that the door is always open for me and if I ever wanted to come back just give him a call and we kind a left it at that. I read what everybody else read about; I thought he had done a deal with Hodgson or Pitt somebody. Then one of my sponsors who sponsors Paul's team, went out to Macau with them and I got a phone call saying "Birdy hasn't done anything yet what are you doing?" I said "Well nothing at the moment, I've got a couple of bits and pieces," he said "I think there is a strong chance that we can put something together if you want to do something with Paul's team again." That got the cogs grinding and away we went really. So yeah mega.
Is it good to be slotting back into a team that you have worked with before?
These guys know me like the back of their hand and I know them and I think there is a lot more focus here on racing which is very, very important. In a couple of day's time we are off for a three day test and we will run through some of the stuff from this year and some possibilities for next year. I think there are more miles of testing planned before the season starts than we will do in the whole season! Which is fantastic, it is what we need, we need to have every base covered. When the green flag goes at the first round next year we are strong, we know the bike like the back of our hand and we are good to go.
With all the preseason testing and now being familiar with the British tracks again, is the title your aim for next year?
Certainly it would be fantastic to have a repeat of 2003, Paul's team is a mega team and everything is really laid back. I mean Paul gets a lot of stick in the press and I'm the first to admit he can be hard work, no doubt about it the guy can be hard work, but he is hard work for the right reasons. It is because he wants to be winning too. I remember talking to some of the ride who have rode for him over the last couple of years and they were saying about how he was moaning because they had finished in fifth or something. So I said "Count yourself lucky, I remember the first time I finished second he moaned at me!" We just got so successful in 2003 that it was just win, win,win and he didn't like finishing second, which is a good thing because neither do I so hopefully we can both go forward.
What do you make of your new young team-mate Tom Sykes?
Toms a good rider, I've watched the Supersport 600 class a lot this year purely because a lot of the kids, I don't mean kids disrespectfully quite a few of the lads are friends of mine. I get one well with Cal Crutchlow and a couple of the other boys and Tom himself and he is good to watch. For one reason or another he has been absolutely on fire, really fast and a really smooth rider to watch and quite entertaining. I've been keeping an eye on him and it will be good to see how he goes with the winter testing and we can bounce some ideas off him. The Honda is new to both of us so we will try to progress as much as we can as a team.
There have been a lot of changes this year with a lot of younger guys coming through and lot of the older guys still haven't got rides, what do you make of all these changes?
When I was a young guy I wanted that too, I wanted to get rid of all the old guys. I'm turning thirty in a few days time and I don't think that is old at all. I think a lot of young riders are being offered jobs now and because, like myself when I was younger, you are hungry and desperate for that opportunity you will do anything. I remember doing an interview with Ben Atkins ready for the 2001 season and he said "What do you want as a wage?" and I said "forget a wage just give me a bike. That is all I want, let me come racing with you and be successful." That doesn't change the young guys want the same sort of thing and they don't need to earn fortunes, and it is an attractive proposition for a team. To be seem to be promoting a young rider and bringing them on and what have you and I think that is a fantastic thing. Every team needs somebody with a little bit more experience and a younger rider is a good combination. Unfortunately when I first started it was all the older guys that stuck around. I'm glad to be here for another year and looking forward to being successful.
In a recent interview with Byrne at the team launch and this is what he had to say.......
When did the Stobart deal come about?
Not very long ago at all. I spoke with Birdy back at Brands Hatch at the last round of the year and we were quite keen to get something done. Then there were a number of possibilities for me World championship wise and I was quite keen, after the season that I've had, to get back out of BSB and go either World Superbike or back into Moto GP and it looked like there was going to be some good options and I pursued them for a bit. Paul told me at the end of the race season that the door is always open for me and if I ever wanted to come back just give him a call and we kind a left it at that. I read what everybody else read about; I thought he had done a deal with Hodgson or Pitt somebody. Then one of my sponsors who sponsors Paul's team, went out to Macau with them and I got a phone call saying "Birdy hasn't done anything yet what are you doing?" I said "Well nothing at the moment, I've got a couple of bits and pieces," he said "I think there is a strong chance that we can put something together if you want to do something with Paul's team again." That got the cogs grinding and away we went really. So yeah mega.
Is it good to be slotting back into a team that you have worked with before?
These guys know me like the back of their hand and I know them and I think there is a lot more focus here on racing which is very, very important. In a couple of day's time we are off for a three day test and we will run through some of the stuff from this year and some possibilities for next year. I think there are more miles of testing planned before the season starts than we will do in the whole season! Which is fantastic, it is what we need, we need to have every base covered. When the green flag goes at the first round next year we are strong, we know the bike like the back of our hand and we are good to go.
With all the preseason testing and now being familiar with the British tracks again, is the title your aim for next year?
Certainly it would be fantastic to have a repeat of 2003, Paul's team is a mega team and everything is really laid back. I mean Paul gets a lot of stick in the press and I'm the first to admit he can be hard work, no doubt about it the guy can be hard work, but he is hard work for the right reasons. It is because he wants to be winning too. I remember talking to some of the ride who have rode for him over the last couple of years and they were saying about how he was moaning because they had finished in fifth or something. So I said "Count yourself lucky, I remember the first time I finished second he moaned at me!" We just got so successful in 2003 that it was just win, win,win and he didn't like finishing second, which is a good thing because neither do I so hopefully we can both go forward.
What do you make of your new young team-mate Tom Sykes?
Toms a good rider, I've watched the Supersport 600 class a lot this year purely because a lot of the kids, I don't mean kids disrespectfully quite a few of the lads are friends of mine. I get one well with Cal Crutchlow and a couple of the other boys and Tom himself and he is good to watch. For one reason or another he has been absolutely on fire, really fast and a really smooth rider to watch and quite entertaining. I've been keeping an eye on him and it will be good to see how he goes with the winter testing and we can bounce some ideas off him. The Honda is new to both of us so we will try to progress as much as we can as a team.
There have been a lot of changes this year with a lot of younger guys coming through and lot of the older guys still haven't got rides, what do you make of all these changes?
When I was a young guy I wanted that too, I wanted to get rid of all the old guys. I'm turning thirty in a few days time and I don't think that is old at all. I think a lot of young riders are being offered jobs now and because, like myself when I was younger, you are hungry and desperate for that opportunity you will do anything. I remember doing an interview with Ben Atkins ready for the 2001 season and he said "What do you want as a wage?" and I said "forget a wage just give me a bike. That is all I want, let me come racing with you and be successful." That doesn't change the young guys want the same sort of thing and they don't need to earn fortunes, and it is an attractive proposition for a team. To be seem to be promoting a young rider and bringing them on and what have you and I think that is a fantastic thing. Every team needs somebody with a little bit more experience and a younger rider is a good combination. Unfortunately when I first started it was all the older guys that stuck around. I'm glad to be here for another year and looking forward to being successful.