Shane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari continued their intense War for Four MCE Insurance British Superbike titles battle with a victory apiece in two closely-fought races at the penultimate round at Silverstone to set up for a dramatic finale.

Byrne holds a narrow 12-point advantage over Kiyonari going into the triple-header race Showdown at Brands Hatch on 17-19 October.

Kiyonari took the initiative in the opening race at the Northamptonshire circuit, taking the lead on his Buildbase BMW in the early stages, but Byrne was shadowing his every move and Josh Brookes was also ready to get into the fight on his Milwaukee Yamaha.

Byrne closed in on Kiyonari and forced his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki into the lead on the penultimate lap at Village, but the Japanese rider responded setting up an epic battle for supremacy on the final lap as the two riders traded places six times.

Byrne held on to take the victory by a narrow 0.064s margin from Kiyonari whilst Brookes claimed third and marked a return to the podium after his double DNF at Assen. Countryman Josh Waters rode his Tyco Suzuki to seventh.

In the second contest Kiyonari was fixed on revenge and he claimed the lead from Byrne on the second lap of the race and twice was forced to defend his line strongly at Village as his arch rival tried to make a move. Byrne made a decisive attack to briefly lead, but the Japanese contender cut it back immediately and then held off the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider to the line.

Kiyonari said: “At the end of the race Shakey tried to pass me but I pushed very hard – every lap I was pushing hard and concentrating very hard, so I am pleased to take this win. I was disappointed to not win the first race, so this makes me happier.”

Byrne added after the second race: “That was one of the hardest second place ever. The pace was much hotter than in the first race and that meant the margins for passing were smaller. We ran so close to the limit, so fair play to Kiyo.”

James Ellison took third place on the Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki, his first podium finish since his Brands Hatch crash, narrowly ahead of Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell and Waters, who has a strong ride to fifth. Brookes crashed out of the second race.

Glenn Irwin fought hard to claim the victory in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship race as he fended off the challenges from the chasing pack of Luke Stapleford, Luke Mossey and Alastair Seeley at Silverstone.

The Ulsterman crossed the line just 0.330s ahead of Luke Stapleford aboard the Profile Triumph who had shattered the lap record four times in his pursuit of victory.

Stapleford had carved his way through from seventh on the opening lap to be attacking Luke Mossey aboard the Techcare Profile Triumph for second place by lap three but was forced to wait until lap nine to finally make the move stick.

Mossey had to settle for third place despite pushing hard in a frantic duel as the leading pack pulled a gap of seven seconds over the pursuing contenders.

Graeme Gowland, riding hard to pull back points lost in his off-track excursion of the previous afternoon picked off five places as he brought his Smiths Triumph into fifth place ahead of American James Rispoli aboard the Team Traction Control Yamaha.

Billy McConnell overcame the challenge of Gearlink Kawasaki’s Luke Hedger to take seventh place on his Smiths Triumph to take an 18 points lead over his teammate Gowland going into the final race.

Jason O’Halloran fell short of the Superstock 1000 win with a runner-up finish to Danny Buchan, while Levi Day was fifth and Benjamin Currie seventh in the Superstock 600 race won by Joe Collier.

2014 British Superbike Championship
Round 11 – Silverstone

Superbike race one results:
1. Shane Byrne
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari +0.084s
3. Josh Brookes (AUS) +0.368s
4. Dan Linfoot +17.952s
5. Stuart Easton +18.524s
6. Julien Da Costa +18.572s
7. Josh Waters (AUS) +18.924s
8. James Westmoreland +19.454s
9. Peter Hickman +19.490s
10. Tommy Bridewell +20.387s

Superbike race two results:
1. Ryuichi Kiyonari
2. Shane Byrne +0.074s
3. James Ellison +10.008s
4. Tommy Bridewell +10.101s
5. Josh Waters (AUS) +13.766s
6. Stuart Easton +15.719s
7. Dan Linfoot +15.765s
8. Julien Da Costa +15.967s
9. Peter Hickman +18.278s
10. James Westmoreland +21.791s

Superbike championship standings:
1. Shane Byrne 632
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari 620
3. Josh Brookes (AUS) 552
4. Tommy Bridewell 550
5. Dan Linfoot 546
6. Chris Walker 513
7. Stuart Easton 197
8. James Ellison 174
9. Josh Waters (AUS) 171
10. John Hopkins 111

Supersport feature race results:
1. Glenn Irwin
2. Luke Stapleford +0.330s
3. Luke Mossey +0.882s
4. Alastair Seeley +0.967s
5. Graeme Gowland +8.021s
6. James Rispoli +11.490s
7. Billy McConnell +12.016s
8. Luke Hedger +12.406s
9. Luke Jones +14.052s
10. Taylor Mackenzie +19.506s

Supersport championship standings:
1. Billy Mcconnell (AUS) 349
2. Graeme Gowland 331
3. Alastair Seeley 315
4. Glenn Irwin 270
5. Luke Stapleford 250
6. Luke Jones 247
7. Luke Mossey 235
8. James Rispoli 147
9. James Dixon 140
10. Taylor Mackenzie 134

Click here for detailed results