Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne narrowly won the second MCE British Superbike race from Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes at Silverstone. It was a photo finish between the rivals, with Byrne just having a slight edge and took the victory by twelve thousandths of a second.
On the first lap, it was Lowes who was at the sharp end off the starting block, with Byrne close behind, then the lead changed numerous times between the two lads. On lap seven the Kawasaki rider made a mistake at Vale corner and Lowes made the most of it, but it was not to last, as Byrne made a comeback at Woodcote Corner on the final lap, to clinch a very tight win, meaning that he now leads the championship again by a single point. Byrne is still on crutches after suffering from a hip injury after crashing yesterday, but that did not seem to faze the rider as he took one of the most remarkable wins of his career.
Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell ended up having a very lonely race. The Devizes Swearbox did start the afternoon in fifth, but clawed his way through the pack and had Tyco Suzuki team-mates Josh Brookes and PJ Jacobsen in his sights. The Aussie rider did not give up his third place easily and managed to fend off his diminutive colleague, but did not have the pace to get rid of Bridewell, and the rider finished three seconds behind the leading duo. But it is the first double podium for the Yamaha man.
His team-mate James Ellison nearly came off his bike on lap seven, but managed to some how hold on to the bike in an acrobatic display similar to Randy Mamola's at Misano all those years ago. The Cumbrian did start the race in third, but slipped back to sixth on lap seven, and on the final rotation he was able to push his way into the mini Tyco battle and first picked off Jacobsen but on the final lap got the better of Brookes to finish in the race in fourth.
Brookes rounded off the top five, followed by Jacobsen and Buildbase BMW's Jon Kirkham. Rapido Sport Racing’s Matteo Baiocco had his best British Superbike finish to date this season, as he managed to out pace title challenger, Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland to snatch eighth, with the BMW rider and Padgett’s Jakub Smrz rounding off the top ten.