Peter Hickman managed to hold-off a late challenge from Shane Byrne to take victory in race two of the day at Silverstone.
The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider was put under immense pressure heading into the final few corners and lost the lead after making a slight mistake.
Hickman managed to fight-back and go down the inside of Byrne as the pair came round to cross the line. Both riders went for it, with Byrne going sideways as they came across the line.
The pair were joined by Christian Iddon on the podium and the Tyco BMW rider will more than happy with two podium finishes to start the year.
Jason O’Halloran finished in fourth place following a hard-fought battle with Leon Haslam. Haslam will be relieved to have picked up some points after retiring from race one earlier in the day.
Race one winner Micheal Laverty was next up in sixth after having some form of mechanical issue midway through the race. The Tyco BMW rider was leading until this mystery problem began.
Lee Jackson went one better than race one with a seventh place finish, ahead of James Ellison and Dan Linfoot, with Luke Mossey rounding out the top 10 on his Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki.
At the start of the race it was Hickman and Laverty who launched of the grid well, with the winner of race one moving up to second from fifth on the grid. Byrne meanwhile had dropped down to sixth after a poor getaway.
Laverty soon began to pile the pressure on Hickman and took the lead of the race on lap three. Behind the leading pair, Byrne was busy making-up for his poor start and found himself fighting with Linfoot for third place.
The Be Wiser Ducati man finally managed to get the better of Linfoot at the first corner of lap six and set his sights on the leading duo.
Whilst all this was going on both John Hopkins and Danny Buchan were forced to retire from the race due to mechanical issues.
On the same lap we had a change at the front, with Hickman going down the inside of Laverty. The lead changed again on lap eight as Laverty put in a surprising move to get the better of Hickman.
Hickman fought back once again and went down the inside of Laverty, forcing him slightly wide in the process. Byrne took advantage and pushed Laverty down to third.
The Irishman seemed to be struggling and was quickly pushed back behind Iddon, Haslam and O’Halloran. It looked like the BMW man was about to retire from the race at any moment but he decided to try and find a solution to the problem.
It took a few laps but he began to make progress back through the field and into sixth position.
Ahead of him there was a great battle going on for fourth position between O’Halloran and Haslam. The Honda man got the better of Haslam going into Copse but the former World Superbike race winner fought back going through the first corner.
O’Halloran would come back once again on the penultimate lap and put a move down the inside to regain fourth place.
Midway through the final lap it looked like Hickman would take the win without any drama, but Byrne’s middle sector was a quick one and he closed in.
Hickman went wide allowing Byrne to take the lead of the race for the first time. The JG Speedfit Kawasaki man was not going to let victory slip away however and came back fighting – going down the inside as the pair entered the final turn.
That line proved critical as he took the win, +0.099 ahead of a sideways ‘Shakey’ Byrne.
After the first two races of the season it is Byrne who leads the championship with 40 points – five points ahead of Laverty.
