British Superbike

Byrne completes the double at Brands Hatch

2 Mins read
Byrne

Championship leader Shane Byrne fought back from a disastrous start to take victory in race two of the day at Brands Hatch.

The Be Wiser Ducati rider fell down to ninth place on the first lap but managed to battle his way back through the pack to take victory.

Behind him there was a tense battle for second between Leon Haslam and Jason O’Halloran, with the latter missing out on second place by just +0.006s.

Glenn Irwin looked to be full of confidence in fourth place, with the Buildbase BMW duo of Richard Cooper and Lee Jackson next up in fifth and sixth places respectively.

Pole-sitter Luke Mossey seemed to lose grip late-on and ended the day in seventh, ahead of Dan Linfoot and James Ellison. Christian Iddon rounded-out the top 10 on the Tyco BMW.

It was O’Halloran who made the best start to the race, taking the lead at the first corner from fourth on the grid. Byrne on the other hand dropped from second, down to ninth after a slow getaway.

There was drama on lap two with Jack Kennedy suffering from a huge crash on the Team WD40 Kawasaki machine.

There seemed to be some confusion for Haslam the following lap as he raised he hands after being overtaken by Ellison for third place. Bridewell also managed to get the better of Haslam before the lap was over.

Five laps into the race Irwin was beginning to show some pace and began to move up through the pack – getting the better of Haslam, Ellison and Mossey within the space of three laps.

Bridewell’s misfortunes continued on lap eight, with the Bennetts Suzuki rider being forced to pull off the circuit with a mechanical issue.

Midway through the race Byrne was beginning to find some momentum and began to close in on the top five riders. Shakey got the better of Ellison for fifth at Westfield before going by Mossey the following lap.

In front of him Haslam had found some pace once again and disposed of Irwin for second place, before setting his sights on O’Halloran.

He briefly took the lead at Paddock Hill Bend but O’Halloran fought back to re-gain the lead at Druids. Haslam would take the lead again later in the lap but he progress was halted due to the safety car.

The safety was released following the blow-up of Michael Laverty’s BMW engine on lap 14. O’Halloran had sneaked back into the lead just before the safety car was deployed.

Two laps were added onto the race and O’Halloran initially made the best getaway at the re-start. Haslam was not finished though and re-took the lead of the race moments later.

O’Halloran tried to fight back at the first corner but ran slightly wide, allowing Byrne to move-up into second. The Ducati rider kept his momentum going as they approached Druids and took the lead of the race for the first time at the hairpin.

Byrne’s overall pace soon showed and he pulled away from the chasing pack to take his second victory of the day. He now leads the championship by 25 points ahead of Haslam.

There is now a three-week break before the series heads to Cadwell Park for round eight of the season.

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About author
Josh is a Sports Journalism graduate and has been a member of the TCF team since 2015. Between 2015 and 2018, Josh focused primarily on British Superbikes and Road Racing events such as the Isle of Man TT. At the beginning of the 2019 season he became the MotoGP Reporter.
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