Byrne wins BSB race 2 at Brands Hatch and is almost champion

Rider Shane Byrne has taken his second victory in the British Superbike Championship in race 2 at Brands Hatch Circuit, so the Kawasaki rider is set to go for the title, and he achieved it after a very eventful race, with crashes and the safety car on two occasions.

It was a complicated race, with a very good start for Shakey, who maintained his position as pole sitter. He also did not give up that position for a single moment during the laps without the safety car, so the #67 is on another level, and he has shown it again despite the difficulties. He had managed to open an interesting gap over his rivals when two safety car periods brought the whole group back together, but Byrne shone once again, and for now he has a double.

After the start we saw a Brookes in comeback mode. He did not feel very comfortable at the beginning, but as the laps went by he kept overtaking the rest of the riders and managed to reach 2nd place, though he could not attack Shane. He finally finished just over a second behind the race winner, with Michael Laverty behind him.

The remaining top 10 positions went to Burrell 4th, Bridewell 5th, Hill 6th, Easton 7th, Kirkham 8th, Haga 9th and Hickman 10th at Brands Hatch. As for crashes and problems, there were many. Early in the race we saw a multiple crash with Muff, Harris, Buchan and Aitchison out of play, then Palmer crashed in a very nasty incident that brought out the first safety car. Westmoreland also went down later, and the safety car came out again when very few laps remained. Because of this safety car presence, the organisers decided to add three more laps to the race. We also saw riders in the pits, such as Lowes.

After the last restart we saw Byrne gritting his teeth and pushing like crazy, and Brookes overtaking Burrell to try to catch the #67, but it was not possible, so he finished 2nd, followed by M. Laverty in 3rd.

With this result in the second BSB race at Brands Hatch, Byrne is 1st with 658 points, followed by Brookes with 635 points and Lowes on 584 points.

Everything is to be decided in the last race, but Shakey has the advantage.

Photo | BSB