Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill has done the British Superbike double at Knockhill today, taking the race two honours in the same fashion as he won the first race, cruising away from Shane Byrne after a safety car period instigated by John Hopkins' crash.
The Samsung Suzuki man had been experiencing a distinct lack of grip and finally crashed at the bottom of Leslie's, forcing Josh Brookes and team-mate Jon Kirkham off the track, the latter then losing the front on wet grass but re-mounting.
When the Nissan GTR pulled off track for a second time, Byrne waited until just before the start/finish line before cracking the throttle. Hill settled into second with team-mate Michael Laverty third but it only lasted for two laps as Hill went underneath the HM Plant Honda into the hairpin.
Byrne was back past into turn one but Hill took top spot back at the hairpin. Byrne was once again in front as he got better drive over the start/finish line but Hill had his measure, taking the lead with eight laps to go and then clearing off.
Laverty held a watching brief in third and had a couple of looks at Byrne but settled for the points. Ryuichi Kiyonari found some pace and came through to grab fourth, mugging James Westmoreland while Gary Mason had to fight back from almost dead last to take sixth.
Mason was pushed wide on lap one and had to push hard to come through the pack while Chris Walker took advantage of the conditions to finish in seventh, just ahead of Peter Hickman. Michael Rutter lost two places in the final laps, dropping to ninth while Simon Andrews made it into tenth and was the first Evo finisher.
Kirkham managed to get back to 11th after his crash, ahead of Martin Jessopp and Brookes on a muddy Relentless Suzuki. Moto Rapido Ducati's Scott Smart was 14th and the second Evo rider while Dan Linfoot was the last points finisher.
Glen Richards was the victim of another crash when Tommy Bridewell went down at Leslie's, forcing the likeable Aussie onto the grass and he had to put the bike down before he ran back onto the track. Loris Baz also crashed unhurt.
Championship points:
Shane Byrne 172
John Hopkins 141
Tommy Hill 120
Michael Laverty 95
Stuart Easton 89
Ryuichi Kiyonari 84
Evo championship points:
Glen Richards 161
Alex Lowes 145
Simon Andrews 139
Barry Burrell 134
Patric Muff 129
