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

Byrne, already out on his own as a four-time winner, added title No.5 at Brands Hatch on Sunday.

The Kent rider went into the weekend's triple header at his home circuit as hot favourite to beat season-long rival Leon Haslam.

A pair of sixth places in the opening two races clinched the championship for Ducati man Byrne, who went on to finish third in the final race.

He said: "I must admit, it’s a strange feeling to have won the championship with a sixth place finish but to do so with a new manufacturer is a massive achievement for both myself and the team.

"The conditions in the first race today were very tricky and the bike was strong in the wet part of the track and not so strong in the other parts so it made it very difficult to overtake.

"Leon came by and I realised I needed to keep one place behind him to clinch the title and whilst he pulled away initially, he gradually came back to me and we got the job done.

"Winning my fifth title will probably sink in later and it’s certainly a weight off my shoulders and whilst I was desperate to end with a win, we signed off with a podium.

"The whole Be Wiser Ducati team have worked incredibly hard all season long so a massive thank you to them especially my crew chief Giovanni, and team of Kev and Sam.”