Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari fought hard to keep Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne at bay to clinch the MCE British Superbike race one victory at Brands Hatch this afternoon. It was the battle of the triple champs with the Japanese rider having the edge over Byrne to secure the win on the final lap.
The last spot on the podium was taken by GBmoto’s James Ellison, with his team-mate Chris Walker completing the top four. This is the BMW rider’s second win of the year, and King Kiyo reigned supreme once again. But it will be the Rapid Solicitors backed Kawasaki of Byrne who will start on pole for race two, after setting the fastest time on the final lap.
Initially it was Byrne who got the hole-shot from Ellison and Walker, but it as not a good start from John Hopkins as he had to start from the back of the grid after stalling at the beginning of the race, resulting in another warm-up lap.
WD-40’s Barry Burrell crashed while in 13th on lap four which brought out the safety car, after a super fast crash going into the barriers at Clearways, bringing his race to a premature end.
The yellow flags were out till lap six, and soon the racing got underway once again. Kiyonari was at the sharp end and closed the gap on the GBmoto pair, and by lap nine the foursome had a second advantage over Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot and Anvil Hire Tag Racing’s Richard Cooper.
On lap 11 Kiyo made a move at Hailwoods on Walker to go into third and soon the triple champ had Ellison as his next target. On the 13th rotation Ellison tried to make a move on Byrne going into Paddock Hill Bend but he didn’t have the pace, but Kiyo pulled alongside the Kendal lad to snatch second at Druids.
A lap later Kiyo managed to get into the slipstream of Byrne to lead the race for the first time – but Byrne was not giving up and quickly took back the provisional first place. Elsewhere Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell retired to the pit with a technical problem.
But the Japanese rider was not giving up and again in a repeat move took the lead going into Paddock Hill Bend on lap 16 to knock Byrne back down to second. On the final lap Kiyo held firm to take the win from Byrne, Ellison and Walker.
Linfoot was able to hold on to fifth to stop Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes getting into the top five, followed by Millsport Ducati’s Jakub Smrz and Anvil Hire Tag Racing’s Richard Cooper.
Hopkins had a superb ride as he ended the race in an impressive ninth overall, which was no mean feat after starting from the very back of the grid. Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Stuart Easton rounded off the top ten.
