Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki's Shane Byrne claimed the victory in the opening MCE British Superbike race of the day at Knockhill this afternoon. The current champ left it till the final three laps to make a move on Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes who was leading the race from the first lap.
Brookes had a flying start on the opening lap and dominated from the beginning, but Byrne was never too far away, with both riders challenging for that coveted top step of the podium. Samsung Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari made up for his previous poor form this year, and made it on to the podium by coming over the finishing line in third.
It was a rather lonely race for the former champion, as he as able to take advantage of a crash involving team-mate Alex Lowes. The Derby rider was in third but on lap fourteen high sided at the Hairpin, ending his hopes of a podium finish.
Byrne decided to make his move on Brookes at the Hairpin on lap 25, but it was a close call as the Aussie was having none of it and quickly regained the lead, but both bikes touched but fortunately neither rider fell off. But Byrne’s final move on Brookes came on lap 27, and this time it stuck, with the Lambeth lad able to pull away leaving the Suzuki rider having to contend with second, narrowly missing out on his first win of the season.
Rapid Solicitor’s Kawasaki’s Keith Farmer came across in fourth, after Buildbase BMW’s Jon Kirkham crashed out while he was in fourth on lap 26 at the Scotsman, leaving the door open for Farmer to take fourth and pick up some valuable points. Quattro Plant rider Chris Walker had a solid race and managed to remain in the fifth spot for the duration of the 30 laps, and that is where he ended the race, followed by Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland.
Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison had to start from the fifth row, but managed to advance into the top ten, and found himself in a battle with Westmoreland and GBmoto’s Dan Linfoot. The Cumbrian crossed the line in seventh followed by Linfoot, with Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen and GBmoto’s Peter Hickman rounding off the top ten.
