Shane Byrne: BSB hero or racing charlatan?

[wiltshire builders]

Last weekend saw Shane "Shakey" Burne crowned as BSB champion for the 4th time.
A great achievement.......however, I do have a problem with this.
For me, Shakey stalking the lower classes of bike racing and cleaning up is akin to Chelsea dropping down to the Screwfix division and looking smug about destroying the opposition.

For a long time BSB was a stepping stone for riders looking to make it on the world stage in WSB and even Moto GP.
Shakey did this but rather than battle it out in the big leagues he decided to be the big fish in a little pond and drop back down again.
Rossi didn't drop back to Moto 2 when he went through his slump.

Shane Burne is clearly a talented rider but I can't help feeling it's not fair for an ex Moto GP rider who will naturally attract all the big sponsors and a top ride, to clean up while new talent are struggling to get a look in.

Am I looking too much in to this?

[Grey haired bloke]

I make you right but I'm sure Shane Burne is happy doing what he does and his sponsors even more so, and that is probably the rub, money talks as they say, as he is at the top of his particular tree he or his team want for very little.
I don't have a problem with this as it is within all the rules and regs, any other rider can do exactely the same, if they are good enough, let them topple shaky.

[wheelers]

I totally disagree, many years ago if you had a bike and transport you could enter races and get into the top flight ,, then came the Eighties Ron Haslam, Rob Mac, Keith Huwen could be seen at club, national and GP . Trevor Nation and Steve Spray re introduced the Norton to the Isle of Man along with Foggy and others. we have since had a world wide slump in the economy. Tobacco and cosmetics finances have disappeared so only a few talented top riders can command sponsorship and more smaller sponsors tend to jump on board as they are likely to get noticed better.
when the 2 stroke 500's were at their height it took a special type of rider to master it, the likes of Foggy never got on finding the 4 stroke more user friendly for him.
Foggy then went on to establish himself as a 4 stroke superbike rider. Hissy , MacKenzie and to some extent Joey Dunlop are /were all the same 4 strokers. I would like to know if they were racing now , if they could get on better as MotoGP is 4 stroke class now.
Rossi is the master of both 2 and 4 strokes.

getting back to today , Shakey would be too old for Moto GP and wouldn't attract the sponsors, why is Kio and Stalker in the class as well?

Dave Thorpe won British and world championships at motox , he lived near Ascot and entered club meetings to keep his hand in. It got to the stage where he had won everything locally, must have made the rest of the paddock wondering why they turned up. He then moved down to Devon and started doing the same there.

so to sum up. while he is still able let Shane race and it will set targets for the junior riders. Look at Brands, Howie Mainwaring a winner, infact 4 first time winners throughout the season must be good. even the best have off days, its there for anyone to take.

[Wes]

Maybe it makes the other riders up their game a bit having Shakey at the sharp end, Marquez has been a game changer in MOTO GP, no real comparison, but it needs something like this to keep the paddock evolving.

[wiltshire builders]

What you've written not only doesn't make sense but contradicts itself.
There was a recession during the late 80's as well as the more recent one.

All the riders you mentioned were at the top of their sport and had multiple championships under their belts. They didn't say "I can't cut it so I'll take an easy pay cheque at a lower level.

You're right that money is tight at the moment which is why it's unfair for 1 rider to monopolise the series while others struggle to get sponsors.
Fans will soon get sick of seeing Shakey wipe the floor with the pack.
As for Mainwaring's win, you don't think that had anything to do with Shakey stuffing it into the gravel then?

Great racing is close racing.
Burne was nearly 100 points clear of the next "genuine" BSB rider. You can hardly call that close.

[Patchouli Dave]

Having watched BSB throughout the season, it was clear from an early stage that Shakey was the man to beat. Perhaps that has something to do with him knowing how to get a bike set up properly.
However, the early season dominance tailed off, as the season progressed, and other teams made progress with set up.

Had Kiyo not broken his collarbone in practice last weekend, I suspect that the title would be his, and someone would be writing about an ex WSB and MotoGp rider stepping down to be a big fish in a little pond.

It was obvious that these two old warhorses battling it out at the front over the last few meetings, were by far, the cream of the crop and they produced just the type of racing that keeps me watching.

I agree that these guys are probably too long in he tooth to cut it in the top flight, but if they were to take up a seat at that level, we'd be hearing the same whinge, that talented young riders can't break into the top level of competition, because of them.

The truth is that Shakey would not be competitive at the top level, and if young riders want to get to the top, then they need to be able to beat the "old guys" in BSB before they can even contemplate taking on the big boys...
If they young guns are good enough ,they will get the ride, win the title and progress, just as Lowes did last year.

As for Mainwaring's win, the object of the exercise is to cross the line first. You can't win if you are not on two wheels, and Howie proved that he was better at staying upright than Shakey, and to give him credit he performed well in race 2 as well. It needs to be remembered that Mainwaring's win saw him finish in front of all the others on the grid, including a number of race winners from this season.

I for one have thoroughly enjoyed the close racing between Shakey and Kiyo, over the later part of this season, and look forward to more of the same next year, and if the young guys are good enough to mix it with them all the better.