Shane Byrne has moved thirty points clear at the top of the British Superbike Championship standings after another double win at Knockhill. The reigning champion took his record for 2013 to six wins in eight starts as previous leader Alex Lowes failed to reach the podium all day.
Lowes was part of a four-man leading group in the opening race led by Josh Brookes but the Samsung Honda rider crashed at the hairpin at half distance, throwing away third place and holding up teammate Ryuichi Kiyonari in the process. This left two fighting for the victory and after one failed attempt which resulted in contact, Byrne made a pass stick at the hairpin to deny Brookes his first win of 2013.
The second race was much more straight forward for Shakey after grabbing the holeshot on lap one and controlling proceedings from there. Brookes did rally late on, setting the fastest lap as he chased down the Kawasaki, but Byrne had enough for his second win of the day, a perfect gift to his ill wife Petra.
“It’s the first time in eight years Petra hasn’t been with me at a race meeting but I went into the first race happier than I have been for the last few days after she rang me up with some words of encouragement. In the first race, I made a mistake when I first tried to overtake Josh but second time around I was able to make a good, clean pass and open up a gap. The second race pretty much went to plan and although it’s never easy I felt comfortable leading from the front. The wins today are definitely for Petra.”
A brace of seconds lifted Brookes above Lowes in the championship standings but the story of the day had to be Kiyonari who more than doubled his season points tally in one afternoon, propelling him back into contention for a showdown spot. The three-time champion still trails sixth placed Chris Walker by six points but the trip to Scotland may go down as a turning point in his season.
James Ellison and Jon Kirkham remain in possession of the other two top-six places but neither will be satisfied with their weekends with Ellison failing to make it through the Seat curves before crashing on the first lap of race two while Kirkham threw away a strong haul of points by crashing in the opener.
| 2013 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riders’ Championship Standings After Round 4: Knockhill | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Team | Wins | Pts |
| 1 |  Shane Byrne |
Kawasaki | Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki | 6 | 166 |
| 2 |  Josh Brookes |
Suzuki | Tyco Suzuki | 136 | |
| 3 | Alex Lowes |
Honda | Samsung Honda | 1 | 130 |
| 4 | James Ellison |
Yamaha | Milwaukee Yamaha | 1 | 80 |
| 5 | Jon Kirkham |
BMW | Buildbase BMW Motorrad | 76 | |
| 6 | Chris Walker |
Kawasaki | Quattro Plant Kawasaki | 65 | |
| 7 |  Ryuichi Kiyonari |
Honda | Samsung Honda | 59 | |
| 8 | James Westmoreland |
BMW | Buildbase BMW Motorrad | 56 | |
| 9 | Keith Farmer |
Kawasaki | Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki | 50 | |
| 10 |  PJ Jacobsen |
Suzuki | Tyco Suzuki | 47 | |
| 11 | Peter Hickman |
Honda | Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda | 41 | |
| 12 | Tommy Bridewell |
Honda | Bathams Honda | 38 | |
| 13 | Howie Mainwaring |
Kawasaki | MH Kawasaki | 29 | |
| 14 |  Jakub Smrz |
Honda | Padgetts Honda | 23 | |
| 15 | Michael Rutter |
Honda | Bathams Honda | 23 | |
| 16 | Karl Harris |
Kawasaki | PR Racing Kawasaki | 18 | |
| 17 | Josh Waters |
Yamaha | Milwaukee Yamaha | 17 | |
| 18 |  Robbin Harms |
Honda | Doodson Motorsport Honda | 13 | |
| 19 | Tristan Palmer |
Honda | Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda | 13 | |
| 20 | Dan Linfoot |
Honda | Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda | 12 | |
| 21 |  Matteo Baiocco |
Ducati | Rapido Sport Racing | 12 | |
| 22 | Martin Jessopp |
BMW | Riders Motorcycles | 9 | |
| 23 | Danny Buchan |
Kawasaki | Quattro Plant Kawasaki | 3 | |
| 24 | Aaron Zanotti |
Suzuki | Aaron Zanotti Racing | 2 | |
| 25 | Lee Costello |
Kawasaki | Halsall Racing Kawasaki | 2 | |
| Next Round: Snetterton (July 7th) | |||||
