Rizla Suzuki has recovered both of Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne’s stolen GSX-R1000 race bikes.

Working in conjunction with the North Yorkshire police, the team received information leading to the whereabouts of the bikes which were stolen on Tuesday night from a locked garage at the Croft circuit.

The bikes were safely recovered on Wednesday and one was used by Shakey during the afternoon test session.

Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Robert Wicks said: “The team is delighted to have the bikes back in its possession.

“The theft has cost the team dearly, not least because of the development time lost by Shakey. It has also raised serious questions regarding circuit security at Croft and we will be working closely with the BSB organizers to make sure this cannot happen to us or any other team in the future.

“I would like to thank all the members of the media and the fans of the series who lent us their support after the bikes were stolen. I can promise you that Rizla Suzuki will be stronger as a result of this and we are already looking forward to getting back to the racing at Knockhill next week.”

Shakey on front row pace

Rizla Suzuki's Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne was fourth fastest at the end of the official two-day British Superbike test at Croft in North Yorkshire.

Shakey rode the Rizla Suzuki development fuel cell bike in the morning and set a blistering lap time. He then returned to a standard bike in the afternoon and was just as fast at the 2.12-mile long North Yorkshire circuit.

Leon Haslam on a Ducati was the quickest rider in warm dry conditions. Rizla Suzuki now travels to Knockhill in Scotland for the eighth round of the series on July 16th.

Shakey said: “I am happy with the set up on both bikes I rode today. We worked hard on setting up the fuel cell bike and it is very fast. I tried my normal set-up in the afternoon and matched the time of the development bike which is encouraging. Trying new ideas, parts and settings is what testing is all about and we have learnt a lot these last two days.

“I didn’t use a qualifying tyre which makes my lap times even better in comparison to the riders who did. On race rubber I was keeping pace with Gregorio Lavilla and that’s a good benchmark. I’m happy and the team has plenty of feedback on where I think we can cut lap times further. We’ll be working on that before returning to race here next month.”

Test Times: 1: Leon Haslam (Ducati) 1:19.976, 2: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.217, 3: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.648, 4: SHANE BYRNE (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.942, 5: Michael Rutter (Honda) +1.112, 6: Michael Laverty (Honda) +1.484.

NB: Brendan Roberts rode the Rizla Suzuki on the first day of the test only and put in a 1m22.9, the best time on day one was 1m20.7