Shane Byrne was satisfied with his performance at World Superbike round three in Valencia after being forced to battle a breakdown in communication.

The 2008 British Superbike champion, from Sittingbourne, got off to the worst possible start during race one – crashing out trying to avoid Italian Lorenzo Lanzi after just five laps.

Byrne (pictured) recovered to finish eighth in race two despite admitting to being confused with messages given to him by his Althea Racing team from the pit lane.

He said: "In the first race I think I was pretty lucky that I didn’t hurt myself or do any damage when I fell trying to avoid Lanzi. And then in the second race I was going well but I was confused by the information my team were giving me on the pit board.

“Sometimes they were showing my position in the heat and other laps showing me the aggregate position. When I finished and saw who I had beaten in the second heat I was pretty satisfied though.”

The 33-year-old – who qualified in 12th – picked-up eight points for his efforts in Spain to take his tally for the season to 33 from six races.

However Byrne was once again upstaged by fellow Brit Leon Haslam who topped the podium in race one before allowing Noriyuki Haga to take the honours in race two.

Byrne said: "It was quite difficult in qualifying – the first part went well but I had problems during the second. We made some changes to make sure we were ready for the race and it wasn’t too bad.

“Nobody wants to fall and then to have confusion in the second wasn’t ideal but I battled that and managed to finish well.”

World Superbike Championship races will be broadcast on Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in High Definition. Eurosport Sky 410 & Virgin Media 521. Eurosport HD is on Sky 412 and Virgin Media 522