Reigning champion, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne, came out on top in an intense battle with Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot to take victory in the second MCE British Superbike race of the season at Donington Park.
The pair exchanged the lead on a number of occasions throughout the race, with Byrne’s team-mate, Stuart Easton, keeping a close eye on them in third position.
Peter Hickman produced another strong performance on-board the RAF Reserves BMW to finish in fourth place, and was closing in on the top three heading into the final couple of laps.
Christian Iddon finished fifth ahead of Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes, who dropped down the order after being caught up in a huge crash by Ryuichi Kiyonari early in the race.
Kiyonari will be disappointed with how today’s races went given that he had topped the majority of the practice sessions heading into today. Last season’s runner-up leaves Donington with only two points to his name.
The Tyco BMW duo of Michael Laverty and Tommy Bridewell finished in seventh and eighth place respectively and will no doubt be pleased with the progress they have made since qualifying.
Smiths Racing’s Billy McConnell recovered from his crash in race one to finish in ninth place, with Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Chris Walker rounding out the top 10.
Race one winner, James Ellison, was forced to start the race from the back of the grid following technical issues with his JG Speedfit Kawasaki but managed to fight his way back through the pack to finish in 12th position.
At the start of the race Byrne made a clean getaway and kept the lead going through Redgate. Behind him, Kiyonari moved up into third place from seventh on the grid.
There was drama at the end of the first lap as Filip Backlund lost control of his Anvil Hire Tag Racing Kawasaki going through Goddards. The Swede was lucky not to be struck by any of the other riders around him.
Broc Parkes suffered the same fate a few laps later as he slide off the track at Goddards.
Meanwhile at the front there was a four-way battle for the lead, with Byrne, Easton, Linfoot and Kiyonari all within a few bike lengths of each other.
The quartet at the front was reduced to three on lap six as Kiyonari suffered a huge highside going through Coppice, nearly taking Brookes with him in the process. The Australian fell down to 12th place after narrowly avoiding Kiyonari’s machine.
Going into the final few laps of the race, Byrne tried to break away from Linfoot and Easton but was unable to do and following a mistake soon found himself back in second place behind the Honda of Linfoot.
The pair began an excellent battle on lap 17, with Byrne initially taking the lead going through the Old Hairpin before Linfoot snatched it back going into the Foggy Esses. Byrne tried to respond down at Melbourne Loop but went too wide, allowing Linfoot to keep the lead.
The pair would swap place a couple more time on lap 18 before Linfoot’s tyres seem to lose grip, allowing Byrne to pull away heading into the final couple of laps.
From that point there was only going to be one winner and Byrne leaves Donington as the championship leader, with a 12-point lead over Linfoot.
Donington Park Race Two Results
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