Shane Byrne is crowned 2014 BSB Champion at Brands Hatch

Last weekend marked the end of the 2014 season of the British Superbike Championship, the BSB. The year was reaching its conclusion and it was doing so with great anticipation, since there was still no champion and Byrne and Kiyonari had been on fire in the latest rounds.

The final round was a triple crown at the Brands Hatch GP Circuit, with three races over the weekend, which would decide this year’s champion, and we have witnessed some of the most interesting, tense and exciting rounds. Without a doubt, the negative side was that in the last free practice session, Kiyonari suffered a horrible high-side and seriously injured his collarbone, which left him well out of contention for the races.

In the first race the winner was Howie Mainwaring, who claimed his first ever BSB race win, after seeing Byrne crash out on the seventh lap while he was leading. Second place went to Waters, who crossed the line right behind the winner, just 0.047s behind. Meanwhile, Kirkham, in third, finished more than two seconds back.

The top 10 was completed by Linfoot in 4th, Bridewell 5th, Easton 6th, Ellison 7th, Brookes 8th, Westmoreland 9th and Walker 10th. Kiyonari did not take to the track after his crash in free practice.

And Sunday arrived for the two remaining races of the season, although Byrne had everything in his favour due to Kiyonari’s injury, and all this despite his crash the previous day in the first race of the Brands Hatch GP triple-header. In this second race, Shane Byrne took the victory and with this result he was crowned BSB Champion for the fourth time, undoubtedly a historic milestone for the veteran Kawasaki rider.

Byrne went all out and secured the victory, followed by James Ellison, who finished nearly two seconds behind, with Mainwaring right on the tail of the runner-up, making for maximum action at the back. The top 10 was closed by Brookes in 4th, Easton 5th, Bridewell 6th, Kirkham 7th, Linfoot 8th, Westmoreland 9th and Hopkins 10th.

And the final round of the season took place with Byrne already crowned Champion, and he capped off the day with victory in the third race, although it was not an easy round for him, as Ellison and Bridewell gave him a real fight, with plenty of action in this event.

Finally, Byrne secured the victory, with Ellison in second place 0.102s behind and Bridewell 0.477s back. The top 10 was completed by Easton 4th, Brookes 5th, Linfoot 6th, Kirkham 7th, Hopkins 8th, Hickman 9th and Walker 10th.

With these races, the overall standings ended with Byrne 1st on 682 points and Kiyonari second on 620 points, having been unable to take part in these last three races, with Bridewell rounding out the podium on 587 points.

On to the 2015 season. Congratulations, Shane.

Source | BSB