Brands Hatch BSB: Byrne wins with faultless ride

Shane Byrne put in another faultless ride at Brands Hatch on Sunday to make it two wins from two and strengthen his grip on the 2012 British Superbike Championship.

The Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider led from start to finish and despite the intervention of the safety car, which extended the race from 20 to 23 laps, he came home 1.1s clear of main rival Josh Brookes.

However, that runner-up spot for the Tyco Suzuki man means the gap between the two is 23 points so won’t be decided until the final race later on Sunday afternoon.
 
Byrne grabbed the holeshot from team-mate Stuart Easton, Alex Lowes, Michael Laverty and Brookes but the man on the move was Barry Burrell (Buildbase BMW) and by lap six he was up to third behind Lowes as Brookes continued to languish in

fifth. Lap seven saw Burrell move up to second from Lowes and three laps later Laverty ran wide at Druids which allowed Brookes to move up to fourth.

Lowes soon slowed, eventually retiring, and that promoted Brookes up to third but he needed to get the better of Burrell if he was to take the title down to the wire.
 
On lap 15, James Westmoreland crashed out at Clearways which brought out the safety car for three laps, extending the race by the same amount. Byrne looked comfortable in the lead when the race resumed and had soon opened up a 1.2s lead as Brookes continued to try and find his way by Burrell.

He finally managed it at Druids on lap 21 but second was all he could hope for as Byrne was clear in the lead for his second win of the weekend.
 
Laverty took the final podium spot from Burrell and Tommy Bridewell whilst outgoing champion Tommy Hill took sixth. Easton, Jon Kirkham, Noriyuki Haga and Peter Hickman rounded out the top ten.
 
British Superbike Championship race 2 (23 laps)
1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Suzuki)
3 Michael Laverty (Honda)
4 Barry Burrell (BMW)
5 Tommy Bridewell (BMW)
6 Tommy Hill (Yamaha)
7 Stuart Easton (Kawasaki)
8 Jon Kirkham (Honda)
9 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
10 Peter Hickman (BMW)