Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill knocked out his rivals at Knockhill with two sensational victories to become the first rider to double up in this year's MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season.
"It is unbelievable to have won both races today for Swan Yamaha and I have to thank them for their hard work to get us up there where we needed to be," Hill said. "After some hard rounds it has been fantastic to get the sweep of pole and two race wins today. We knew we could push but it is just great for our championship; more points and more podium credits was what we needed and that is what we got and that will prove so important later in the season ahead of the Showdown."
In Race one Hill took the holeshot off the pole position on the opening lap to take the lead into turn one and then edged out a commanding lead as the duel for the podium place continued behind. The opening lap saw heartbreak for Alex Lowes as he crashed the MSS Colchester Kawasaki at the Hairpin and ended his chance of a strong finish.
Mason was holding on to second place ahead of John Hopkins, Josh Brookes and Shane 'Shakey' Byrne over the opening laps with the championship-leading HM Plant Honda eager to move up the order. However Byrne made a mistake at the Hairpin as he tried to pass Brookes to run wide on the third lap and he had to close him down all over again.
The Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati team had a tough race as Michael Rutter was forced into the pitlane with a suspected suspension issue, he rejoined later but failed to finish the race. His team-mate Martin Jessopp didn't have any luck either as he crashed out at Leslies with eight laps remaining.
At the front Hill was still pushing hard to edge ahead of his rivals lap by lap as Byrne moved ahead of Brookes for a second time on the fifth lap and was able to fend off the Australian. Byrne then had the gap to bridge to Mason and Hopkins and it wasn't until the 24th lap that the title leader was able to dive down the inside of the MSS Colchester Kawasaki rider at the Hairpin. He then set to close and pass Hopkins with the final laps a battle of attrition but the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki rider kept his cool and despite coming under pressure on the final two laps held on to take his sixth podium finish of the season ahead of Byrne who remains at the top of the standings.
Mason held onto fourth, but the battle for fifth continued for the majority of the race with Brookes able to stay ahead after a mid-race dice with James Westmoreland to take the place and more points for his title challenge.
The second Swan Yamaha of Michael Laverty was able to pass Westmoreland with two laps remaining to move himself up to sixth after running twelfth at the end of the opening lap with the Motorpoint Yamaha rider relegated to seventh. Jon Kirkham bounced back from a tough warm up session this morning to finish eighth ahead of Loris Baz and defending Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari.
Race two saw John Hopkins take the lead into the first turn off the front row from Shane 'Shakey' Byrne, Tommy Hill and Michael Rutter, whilst Gary Mason looked to move up the order at Scotsman but went wide and was forced to rejoin down the order.
Byrne took the lead at Butchers from Hill to put the HM Plant Honda at the front of the pack with Hopkins still third, but it was Michael Laverty on the charge forward on the second lap. The Swan Yamaha rider moved from sixth to fourth after passing Ryuichi Kiyonari and Rutter at Leslies and then the Hairpin respectively.
On the third lap Tommy Bridewell, Glen Richards and Loris Baz all crashed at Leslies, avoiding the stricken Tyco Honda. The debris on track caused the Nissan GTR Safety Car to be deployed and at the start of the fourth lap they lined up behind the car Byrne led from Hill, Laverty, Hopkins and Rutter.
The race resumed at the start of the seventh lap but it was a dramatic lap for the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki team as Hopkins went wide at Leslies and crashed out, collecting team-mate Jon Kirkham who was able to rejoin. The Californian's hopes of a double podium though were ended and he was forced to watch the remainder from the sidelines.
Hopkins' crash meant the Nissan GTR safety car was once again deployed and then when the race resumed on lap 12 Byrne and Hill began their fairing bashing for the lead. The HM Plant Honda had the initial advantage but just two laps later Hill forced by at the Hairpin to lead the race. The pair were almost touching handlebars as they crossed the line and it was Hill who seemed to have the edge, but it was the battle of the late brakers as Byrne took the lead back at Leslies.
A lap later Hill was ahead again, but Byrne fought back to retake the position again. Hill was piling on the pressure and with eight laps remaining he stole the lead and then fended off the series leader until the chequered flag.
Laverty was shadowing the leading pair but he was not able to take advantage of the dicing pair and he took a third place finish after missing out in race one. Ryuichi Kiyonari put in a resurgent performance to finish fourth after carving his way through from sixth in the early stages to put himself back where he needed to be to salvage his title fight.
James Westmoreland had his best performance of the season; dicing with Kiyonari and Mason to finish fifth with the MSS Colchester Kawasaki rider able to regain positions after his first lap off track excursion to finish sixth ahead of Chris Walker who just missed out on the top five as the pack continued to switch places in the closing stages. Tyco Honda's Peter Hickman was eighth for the Tyco Honda team ahead of Rutter who dropped to ninth despite a promising start and Simon Andrews had an impressive ride to finish inside the top ten and win the Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo race.
Main Photo: Tommy Hill
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, race one result:
1 Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha)
2 John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +8.907s
3 Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +9.123s
4 Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +15.354s
5 Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki) +21.816s
6 Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +21.823s
7 James Westmoreland (Motorpoint Yamaha) +24.920s
8 Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +26.558s
9 Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +26.665s
10 Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +26.925s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, race two result:
1 Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha)
2 Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +2.464s
3 Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +2.728s
4 Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +10.983s
5 James Westmoreland (Motorpoint Yamaha) +17.370s
6 Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +18.557s
7 Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +19.955s
8 Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) +20.201s
9 Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +21.351s
10 Simon Andrews (Buy-Force.com Kawasaki) +23.787s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Knockhill:
1 Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 172
2 John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 141
3 Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 120
4 Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 95
5 Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 89
6 Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 84
