James Ellison vowed to battle for two race wins ahead of the second round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider kept his promise to score his first double victory in the series.
Ellison had taken the advantage on the opening lap to lead from his second pole position of the day, but Ryuichi Kiyonari, Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and Josh Brookes were in close contention as they bid to halt the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider.
Byrne was soon hassling Kiyonari as the multiple champions battled for second place and on the fifth lap the PBM Kawasaki rider was able to make a move on the inside of Paddock Hill Bend to move ahead of his Buildbase BMW rival.
The quartet at the front had started to break away and Brookes was clearly keen to make a move on Kiyonari too. The Australian was able to take advantage of a mistake at Druids from the Japanese ace on the tenth lap to move to third when Kiyonari ran wide.
Ellison had again set an impressive pace to gap Byrne, Brookes and Kiyonari behind him, but when Danny Johnson crashed the Morello Racing Kawasaki at Clearways the Nissan GT-R Safety Car was back on track before the final nine lap dash to the finish on the 1.2-mile Indy circuit.
As the race resumed Ellison knew his rivals were going to try and attack instantly; the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider fired away at the line to edge a 0.356s lead at the finish as Byrne managed to hold off the hard-charging Brookes as the pair returned to the podium.
"We came here after Donington Park where we were so unlucky after winning the first race and then having a problem in race two, so this is a really good feeling." Ellison said. "We have learnt a lot from that disappointment and the changes we have had for this weekend made a big difference.
"This weekend has been the best I've ever done and now I hope we can keep it going like this across the year because in other seasons we have started strongly but have not been able to hold it together. It is a good feeling to walk away from Brands Hatch with two wins, as particularly in the second race, Shakey (Byrne) was closing in a bit and he made me work hard."
Kiyonari was forced to settle for fourth, but moved up into the top six in the standings with his performances.
Stuart Easton returned to the top five ahead of Tommy Bridewell who equalled his best performance for the Tyco BMW team in sixth place. Howie Mainwaring fended off the challenge from Danny Buchan to claim seventh.
Australian riders filled positions eight through eleven as Billy McConnell, Jason O'Halloran and Broc Parkes completed the top elevn. Josh Waters finished in 16th.
Race Two Results:
1. James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
2. Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +0.356s
3. Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.484s
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +3.229s
5. Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +3.714s
6. Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) +4.397s
7. Howie Mainwaring (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +5.563s
8. Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +5.877s
9. Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing BMW) +6.692s
10. Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +6.854s
Championship Standings:
1. Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 85
2. James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 79
3. Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 58
4. Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) 42
5. Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) 33
6. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 28
