Early Days

Shane can tell many a funny story no problem at all but one of the funniest things if you ask about how motorcycling became his passion is this.. "Whilst sat in primary school one of my earliest recollections of wanting to be a motorcycle racer came moving up a year at school, we all sat in class and the teacher said something along the lines of right children, I want you to all write your name, pets etc and what you want to be when you grow up, I wrote the first bits then put I want to be a motorbike racer when I grow up, the funny thing about that was that my parents never even had a car driving license so where it came from I'll never know but it's there and impossible to fight!!!!"

Shane's first ride on a motorcycle was at a Butlins holiday, however this alone was a bit of a sneaky mission, by this point Shane was about 5 or 6 years old and would've had absolutely no chance getting a shot on a motorbike with his parents so Shane begged his older cousin to take him, that was it, from there on in he was hooked, nearly right hooked when his parents found out after what he'd done, little did they know what they had coming!!!

Ask the question how did Shane actually start racing and you'll get an answer you'll probably not expect... "I got banned from driving" will be the immediate response before a bit more detail, basically Shane lost his license to drive, had just brought a Suzuki RGV250 beforehand that he planned to race when the ban came into place but after 5 days riding it on the road he blew the thing to pieces, rebuilt it then exchanged it for a Kawasaki ZXR400, 2 track days later Shane entered his first race at Brands Hatch and one, it went from there....

1997

1997 was Shane's first full season after 3 or 4 races during 1996, those races had gained the attention of former British super bike champion Mark Linscott who managed to get Shane a ride with Cotswold communications who he worked for, they entered the Bemsee Novice and Supersport Championships both of which Shane dominated as well as taking his first national level win at Cadwell park and entering with special permission the final round of the British Supersport championship.

1998

1998 Things started to take off a bit more for Shane, signing to ride for Bromley Haulage in British Supersport, it took just four rounds before Shane managed to win at this level, the first Yamaha victory in the class for a long time, away from racing an acquaintance that Shane made at the tail end of 1997 saw Shane start to do some road testing for Colin Schiller and Fastbikes magazine, Shane enjoyed 2 or 3 unbelievably fun years messing about and getting paid for doing something he simply loved, riding motorbikes!!!!.

1999

1999 Shane started the year once again riding British Supersport for Colin Schiller and Fastbikes but Colin had already put into place a Superbike ride for Shane with the famous Harris brothers, Shane made his BSB debut that year on a Privateer Kawasaki but due to his results and speed wasn't allowed to compete under privateer status, he was rewarded at the end of the year by Kawasaki with a ride on their factory Superbike for the final round of the year and offered a contract for the new millennium riding in the official factory team.

2000

2000, Shane decided against riding the Kawasaki and stuck loyally with the Harris brothers who'd given him his big break in BSB, the year however wasn't to be a good one, in fact it was terrible, a broken back and a week or so in intensive care due to a split liver from another crash where hardly the results Shane had hoped for and a single 5th place the best he could muster on what turned out to be a very uncompetitive machine.

2001

For 2001 Shane joined Rick Cappella at Performance House to ride a Suzuki in the Privateer British Superbike Championship, Shane dominated taking 22 of the 26 race wins as well as a number of top 5 overall placings taking the Privateer Championship victory as well as an eventual 8th place overall!!

2002

2002 Shane was snapped up by Mark Griffiths to ride in the newly formed Renegade Ducati team alongside Michael Rutter, Shane's first BSB victory came this year along with two others and a number of podiums, Shane would eventually finish 4th in the overall British Superbike Championship.

2003

2003 Shane signed for Paul Bird to ride an updated version of the Renegade Ducati under Monstermob Ducati colours, an incredible year that saw Shane take 12 race victories in BSB as well as becoming one of only three riders EVER to take a double "Wildcard" victory at the World Superbike Championship races held at Brands Hatch.

2004

2004 Saw Shane snapped up by Aprilia to race in Moto GP for the coming two years with the possibility of an extension for year 3, Moto GP being motorcycle racings equivalent to F1, Shane showed lots of speed but a badly broken potentially career ending broken wrist as well as Aprilia selling their company saw a withdrawal from the team for 2005, fortunately Shane had gained many admirers none less than the rights owner of the championship who made sure that Shane was kept in the championship the following year.

2005

2005 The Moto GP organisers did indeed manage to keep Shane racing in motorcycle racings elite class however technical disputes between engine and chassis manufacturers saw the team end it's participation in the championship after just a few rounds. Shane was then called up by Sito Pons to replace Troy Bayliss on the Camel Honda, after just 2 rounds Sito was happy to run Shane for the remainder of the season but sponsor obligations put paid to that and Shane had to take the remainder of the season off.

2006

2006 After a pretty disappointing couple of seasons on not the most competitive of bikes Shane decided a return to BSB was the best move, determined to once again run at the front and challenge for race wins Shane signed for Rizla Suzuki, much was promised to him but little delivered, 1 race win and a number of podiums saw him decide to leave to rejoin "HIS" team Paul Bird Motorsport for the following year.

2007

2007 Shane was once again happy being at home as he classes it with the Paul Bird team, 12 podiums including a win saw Shane snapped up by Airwaves Ducati for 2008.

2008

2008 was another very good year, despite technical penalties being placed upon Shane and Airwaves Ducati because of the results he was obtaining Shane once again captured the British Superbike Championship and with it was was supposed to have been a full factory Ducati World Superbike Championship ride for 2009

2009

2009 started ok, Shane as eventually placed into the Sterilgada Ducati squad replacing Max Biaggi, in all pre season testing Shane was fastest but a difficult year in what turned out to be a heavily underfunded team saw just one podium and 8th overall in the World Championship.

2010

2010 was classed as one of the most difficult in World Superbike Championship history and after signing for Althea Ducati Shane once again started very strong in pre season testing, a massive high side crash at round one then another at Portimao saw the team alter the spec of the bike but nonetheless Shane topped time sheets at various rounds eventually finishing 10th overall in the Championship.

2011

2011 Despite possibilities to stay in the World Championship Shane opted to once again return to the British Championship as continuing in WSB without a top level bike would be as like Shane described it "pi**ing in the wind" HM Plant Honda the 2010 champions was Shane's choice of team, determined to prove he could be fast on something other than a Ducati Shane scored 6 victories and lost 2 certain victories one through mechanical issues and the other through a following rider colliding with him, a number of other podiums actually saw Shane score more points than any other rider however BSB's showdown format saw him actually finish third overall.

2012

2012 Back home to Paul Bird Motorsport riding a Raid Solicitors backed Kawasaki ZX10r.