SHANE Byrne scored a double win at the Knockhill MCE British Superbike round yesterday, fending off challenges from his PBM Kawasaki team-mate Stuart Easton and Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes.

Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty got off the line first, followed into the first corner by JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison, Easton, Byrne and Brookes.

Ellison, who had crashed in race one, tried to pass Laverty at turn three but ran wide onto grass and dropped down the pack.

Laverty held the lead, still followed by Easton and Byrne, while his team-mater Tommy Bridewell crashed out uninjured at turn three of lap five.

Easton ran wide at the Hairpin, allowing Byrne and Brookes to pass by lap nine. But Easton swapped places with Brookes again at the Hairpin on lap 12, moving up to third place.

Eventually Laverty made the mistake Byrne needed, giving the reigning champion the lead by the start of lap 17.

As Byrne led Laverty, Easton and Brookes, the race was red-flagged due to a brief shower.

After a restart in dry conditions, Ellison was forced to retire his JG Speedfit Kawasaki, and drops a place in the standings as a result. Byrne continued to set the pace to take victory in an 11-lap sprint race followed by Easton and Brookes.

Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey crashed uninjured out of fourth place on the penultimate lap, allowing Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari to move up the field and into the top 10 in the standings.  

MCE BSB Knockhill race two results:

1.Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki)

2.Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +0.436s

3.Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.771s

4.Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +4.518s

5.Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +5.064s

6.Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +6.134s

7.Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +7.104s

8.James Westmoreland (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +7.646s

9.Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +8.157s

10.Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki) +8.395s

See the full results here.

See the race one results and the championship standings. 

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