Shane Byrne left Oulton Park leading the British Superbike Championship after clinching his third podium position of the season.

Despite running off the pace during Saturday’s practice sessions Byrne and the HM Plant Honda team responded and picked up valuable championship points.

He heads to Croft in a fortnight with a slender advantage in the standings ahead of Stuart Easton, Ryuichi Kiyonari and John Hopkins.

Byrne (pictured) finished the opening race in fourth and took third in race two.

Sittingbourne racer Byrne said: "After Saturday’s practice, when we were running outside the top ten, I would have taken the offer of a fourth and a third and I am so pleased to have finished on the podium in the second race.

"The boys in the HM Plant Honda garage and at Motec did such a good job to get us up the sharp end.

"We really turned things around and to have the lead in the championship ahead of Croft (round three) is a good result after everyone’s hard work at Oulton Park."

In the EVO class Maidstone’s Scott Smart, racing for the Moto Rapido team, claimed two second place finishes on his Ducati.

Elsewhere fellow Maidstone man Steve Mercer finished 17th on his Kawasaki in the Superstock 1000 Championship and Tom Weeden, also from Maidstone, took a seventh and sixth finish in the Triumph Triple Challenge series.