British Superbikes: Knockhill double for Shane Byrne

Shane Byrne dominated the fifth round of MCE Insurance British Superbikes at Knockhill with a winning double that stretched his lead in the standings to 38 points over Josh Brookes.

Byrne, the four-time champion, took charge of the opening race at the Fife track with a neat move to go ahead of his PBM Kawasaki team-mate Stuart Easton on the first lap and was able to dictate terms throughout the 30 laps, beating off Michael Laverty, Easton and Australia’s Brookes.

Laverty made the running in the second race but the action was red-flagged as rain began to fall.

As two-thirds distance had not been completed, the race was rerun as an 11-lap sprint with Byrne leading throughout.

He bettered the lap record to take his fifth victory of the season ahead of Easton and Brookes.