Shane Byrne has won the British Superbike Championship for a record fourth time.

Sittingbourne rider Byrne clinched the title at Brands Hatch on Sunday afternoon, with rival Ryuichi Kiyonairi sidelined by a broken collarbone sustained in practice ahead of the opening race on Saturday.

Byrne was running second on his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki when he crashed out of the first race, missing the chance to extend his 12-point lead over Kiyonari.

But with Kiyonari still injured, Byrne made certain of the title by winning race two ahead of James Ellison and Howie Mainwaring.

Byrne said: "The circumstances in which I won it weren't ideal. I would have dearly loved for Kiyo to be out there with me and to try and fight with him over these three races.

"We had a tiny points advantage over him and only he and I could win the championship.

"The fitting thing was that the two of us had both won three before, so whoever did win it was going to be the first rider to ever win four.

"That said, I never made him fall down, you know I fell down yesterday and it could have gone either way."