Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari won the battle of the triple-champs in the second MCE British Superbike race at Silverstone after getting the better of rival, Rapid Solicitor Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne.

The fight began from the very first lap and in a repeat of the opening race went down to the wire, but this time if was Kiyonari who took the maximum 25 points, ahead of Byrne. Kiyo rode a superbly defensive race and held Byrne at bay. GBmoto Kawasaki’s James Ellison bagged his first podium since coming back from a nasty leg injury, and snatched the third step on the rostrum from Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell.

At first it was Byrne who got the hole-shot ahead of Milwaukee Yamaha's Josh Brookes and Kiyonari, only for the Japanese rider to go into the lead a lap later at Becketts. It was a great start from GBmoto Kawasaki’s James Ellison who was holding on to the leading trio in fourth.

It was not a great session for Tsingtao’s Gary Mason who has had a solid weekend so far, but it came to an abrupt end at Farm after a technical problem. At the front Brookes was riding hard and was level pegging with Byrne, but the Kawasaki was just a bit faster on the straights and  he managed to hold on to second with ten laps remaining.

Brookes' team-mate, Tommy Bridewell had a much stronger start this time compared to the first race, and out-paced Ellison to go into fourth on lap number four, with Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Waters close behind in sixth. It was a terrible start for the Aussie’s American colleague, as John Hopkins failed to make it out for a single lap as he retired to the pits with a bike issue on the warm up lap, bringing a disappointing end to his Silverstone campaign.

Brookes was going so well and was about to make a move on Byrne, but ended up losing the front at Brooklands and crashed out sliding across the gravel – ending his chances of a double podium. With the Bringelly rider out of contention it promoted Bridewell to third with seven laps remaining.

Ellison was on the tail of Bridewell and his Kawasaki had that extra speed down the straight, and going into Copse went into third on the ninth rotation. With Brookes out of the leading battle the win turned into a two bike race – with Kiyonari and Byrne extending their lead to six seconds over Ellison, Bridewell and Waters.

On the penultimate lap Byrne edged ahead at Village, only to go wide allowing Kiyo to go back into the front. But Byrne was not finished yet and tried to go into the front at Becketts only for Kiyo to bite back and cling on to take the victory. Ellison held off the charges of Bridewell to bag his first podium in months, with the Wiltshire rider and Easton completing the top five.

Title fighter, Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot managed to hold on to sixth, preventing Honda Racing’s Julien Da Costa from getting further up the field. RAF Reserves Honda’s peter Hickman and Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland compete the top ten.