Sunday, June 15 2014

Shane 'Shakey' Byrne stormed to a double victory at Snetterton in a dramatic second MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race at the Norfolk circuit as title rival Josh Brookes crashed out of contention, whilst his team-mate Tommy Bridewell scored his first podium of 2014.

Brookes had fired to the front of the field on the opening lap from Byrne and Bridewell, with Byrne soon back ahead and the pair swapped positions for the lead before the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider held the advantage. His Australian rival though was determined and made a move at Murrays a few laps later to regain the position with Bridewell and Ellison in close contention.

A lap later and Byrne made his move at Riches after the pair were side-by-side down the Senna Straight, but again the Milwaukee Yamaha rider made a move back on the brakes at Montreal. Byrne wasn't settling for second and again was on the counterattack, making a pass at Agostini to get back ahead with the top four covered by just 0.8 seconds in the early stages of the race.

Brookes was pushing hard and on the 13th lap suffered a huge high-side on the exit of Montreal, with the Australian able to get to his feet. This left Byrne at the front and Ellison and Bridewell fighting for second over the final laps. Ellison made a move on Bridewell at Agostini but went wide, giving Bridewell the chance to cut back on the inside. However Ellison had one last chance to claim second and with a determined move the Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki rider forged ahead to score his best result of the season.

Ryuichi Kiyonari had been pushing hard to get ahead of Julien Da Costa and the triple champion was able to get ahead and hold off the Honda Racing rider on his return to the grid. Dan Linfoot on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki had another strong performance to end his best weekend of the season so far by fending off John Hopkins on the Tyco Suzuki in seventh place.

Jakub Smrz fought from his fourth row start to eighth ahead of Josh Waters and Richard Cooper with six different nationalities and six manufacturers featuring inside the top ten. 

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, race two result:

1. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
2. James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +2.164s
3. Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +3.631s
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +9.210s
5. Julien Da Costa (Honda Racing) +13.509s
6. Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +17.539s
7. John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +17.709s
8. Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +17.868s
9. Josh Waters (Tyco Suzuki) +37.868s
10. Richard Cooper (Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki) +37.941s

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Snetterton:

1. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 145
2. James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 100
3. Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 85
4. Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) 69
5. Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) 51
6. Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 49