Reigning MCE British Superbike Champion Shane Byrne has won his second race of the season after dominating race one of the day at Snetterton.
The pole-sitter led from start-to-finish and never looked like being caught by any of his rivals – eventually finishing 2.685s ahead of second-place man Josh Brookes.
The pair were joined on the podium by Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran, who looked strong throughout the race and had held second position for the majority of proceedings.
Tommy Bridewell was next up in fourth and had a relatively quiet race after his teammate, Michael Laverty, was forced to retire from the race due to mechanical problems.
The returning Dan Linfoot recovered from a poor start to battle back through the field and up to fifth place, just ahead of Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Chris Walker.
Stuart Easton was next up in seventh place, just ahead of Howie Mainwaring-Smart, Luke Mossey and Richard Cooper, who were all involved in a great battle near the end of the race for the final top 10 positions.
James Ellison’s run of bad luck at Snetterton continued as he first ran off the straight before being forced to retire from the race due to mechanical problems.
It was Byrne who made the best start and was soon off in a race on his own, with the reigning champion pulling out a 2.340s lead by the end of the first lap.
There was plenty of action behind him on the first lap with Buildbase BMW’s Lee Jackson pulling out of the race with what looked to be engine failure, and Ellison going straight-on at Brundle.
Brookes and Linfoot both lost out at the start but soon started to make their way back through, with Linfoot passing Easton for sixth place and Brookes getting Laverty for fourth position by the end of lap four.
It didn’t take long for Brookes to catch Laverty’s teammate and put a move on Bridewell going through Brundle. Moments later Laverty suffered from mechanical issues and was forced to retire from the race.
Lap 11 saw the end of Ellison’s race, just as the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider was beginning to make some progress.
By this point Brookes had caught the impressive O’Halloran and was able to put in a great move down the inside at Murrays.
With the top four riders all relatively spread out, we had to look further down the field for some close racing action, with Walker, Mossey, Cooper and Mainwaring-Smart all battling it out for position on track.
The foursome soon caught Easton, with Cooper initially taking the place away from him at the last corner before losing out on the straight. Cooper made a mistake at the start of the next lap and lost out to Walker and Mainwaring-Smart, before eventually losing out to Mossey as well.
There was still time for Walker to move up one more position, with the series veteran going down the inside of Easton at the Bomb Hole.
Meanwhile at the front Byrne had already taken the chequered flag and the lead of the championship. Byrne now has a 12-point lead over Brookes in the title race with Ellison dropping down to third, a further five points behind.
Snetterton Race One Results
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