Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne dominated from only the third lap of the race and was able to hold off the charge from Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes on the very last corner on the final lap to take the MCE British Superbike race two win, and in doing so cements his place in BSB history.
Byrne is the only rider to take home 50 race wins in the series. Brookes took second with Samsung Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari coming across the finishing line in third.
The race was full of drama from the start. On the opening lap Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes led the charge after a strong start. But on lap three Byrne made a pass at Lodge corner and that is where he stayed for the remaining laps. But the place for second and third changed. On lap seven Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison made a move on Lowes at Cascades and went into second. Ellison then began to push onto Byrne, with hopes of doing the double, after his race win yesterday.
With eight laps to go the top five bikes of Byrne, Ellison, Lowes, Brookes and Kiyo broke away from the rest of the pack, and a five way battle for first emerged. Brookes soon found the pace to make a move on Lowes, and managed to make it stick at Lodge for lap thirteen, pushing the Derby lad to fourth. The Aussie was on a roll and made a move on Ellison at Shell to push his way to second, behind leader Byrne.
Lowes was in a hurry to get back on to the podium positions and overtook Ellison at Island, but the move forced Ellison wide and on to the grass, where he eventually crashed out, ending all hopes of the Cumbrian taking another win in race two.
On the final lap Brookes attempted to try and get the better of Byrne, and had the opportunity to go first at Lodge, but the triple champ proved too strong and he held his position at the front of the pack. Lowes then tried a move on Brookes but lost the front end at Lodge and fell, pushing team-mate Kiyo into the final podium spot.
Halsall Racing’s Tommy Bridewell had a rather lonely race, and finished fourth, followed by Buildbase BMW’s Jon Kirkham. Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen got the better of GBmoto’s Dan Linfoot to end race two in sixth.
There was a battle for a top ten place between Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Keith Farmer and Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland, but on the final lap Farmer got the better of the Yorkshireman to end the race in eighth. Tsingtao WKbikes Performance Howie Mainwaring Smart rounded off the top ten.
