Paul Bird Motorsport have signalled their intentions of a winning return to the prestigious MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with the signing of Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Stuart Easton for the 2012 season.
The Cumbria-based team has spent the past four seasons in the World Superbike Championship but prior to that has won four British Championship titles, two of which came courtesy of Kent rider Byrne and Scotsman Easton, so by signing the two riders, Penrith businessman Paul Bird has assembled his ‘dream team’ for a concerted assault on the title.
Double British Superbike champion Byrne, from Sittingbourne, and former British Supersport champion Easton, from Hawick, will be aboard factory-specification Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R machines for the series as part of an ambitious plan which will see the team also field a CRT (Claiming Rules Team) rider in MotoGP.
Byrne, who won the 2003 BSB title aboard a Ducati for the PBM team and Easton, who claimed the 2002 British Supersport Championship also aboard a Ducati, will be looking for a winning return for certain. Byrne also raced a Honda for the PBM team in 2007, winning at Mallory Park in the process whereas Easton raced 125s and 250s in his early career for the team.
This year, Byrne led the series for much of the year but missed out in the Showdown races and despite a double win at Brands Hatch in the final round, he finished third whereas Easton was showing true championship potential when he was injured at the North West 200 and missed the rest of the season as a result.