Shane Byrne maintained his 12-point lead in the British Superbike Championship after a thrilling penultimate round at Silverstone on Sunday.

A three-way battle that saw the lead change hands six times on the final lap saw Sittingbourne rider Shakey beat title rival Ryuichi Kiyonari by just 0.084sec in the opening race, with Josh Brookes third.

An even closer finish in race two saw Kiyonari edge Byrne by 0.074 after another intense battle.

Byrne briefly took the lead on the final lap but Kiyonari snatched it back and defended hard in the closing stages to hold off his fellow three-time champion.

The championship will be settled at Brands Hatch in two weeks' time.

Byrne said: "Hats off to Kiyo, I thought he rode very well. I am happy for the first race but unfortunately after you win the first race it can only ever be another win, everything else is an anti-climax.

"We can go to Brands Hatch now and fight for three wins, or as-near-as-damn-it three wins, and see what happens at the end of Sunday afternoon.

"I just have to try and beat Kiyo. We are both riding really well and he is a great competitor and very strong, so we are going to have to do something pretty special there to beat him in all three."