Kiyonari stars at Brands Hatch

Japan's Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) has continued his sizzling form with a nerveless double victory in round 10 of the Superbike World Championship at Brands Hatch, while Aussie Troy Bayliss tightened his grip on a third world title.

Just a week after he powered to victory in the Suzuka 8 Hour endurance race, Kiyonari clearly relished being back on the turf where he won the last two British Superbike titles, holding off Bayliss (Ducati) and Italian Max Biaggi (Ducati) in a race one thriller before coming up trumps again in an all-Japanese battle with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha).

Kiyonari is now the seventh Japanese rider to win WSBK race, which saw him leap from 10th to eighth in the title on 165pts. Bayliss continues to lead on 334pts, well in front of German Max Neukirchner (Suzuki, 252pts), with Australian Troy Corser (Yamaha, 242pts) remaining in third.

"I'm so happy, I cannot really believe it," said Kiyonari. "We have been near the top of the leader board in all the sessions this weekend, so we knew that we had a good race set-up. The team worked hard to give me a great bike for both races and finally we have a win - no, two wins! - to celebrate.

"It wasn't easy. I found it difficult to pass and I made a couple of mistakes. In race one, I was very nervous for the last few laps but in race two I was able to keep a good pace right to the end."

Bayliss started from pole position at Brands Hatch, with the opening race delayed by a shower just as the riders were lining up on the grid. When it did get underway, Bayliss led for the opening 21 laps before Kiyonari finally gained the upper hand with a crisp passing move, which is not always an easy proposition around the undulations and blind apexes of Brands Hatch.

While Bayliss and Kiyonari were locking horns, Biaggi, who had moved into third place on lap 10, closed in on the leaders over the final stages, with just 0.180secs separating the trio at the chequered flag.

Suzuki teammates Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi were fourth and fifth, ahead of Carlos Checa (Honda), while Bayliss was able to secure more breathing space in the championship race with Neukirchner and Corser well back in seventh and eighth, both hampered by excessive rear wheel spin.

However, it all fell apart for Bayliss in race two when he made the wrong tyre choice and laboured to a disappointing 11th, one spot ahead of Biaggi, who had to slice his way back through the field after running into the gravel on lap two.

Meanwhile, Corser and Neukirchner were third and fourth, maintaining some hope of overhauling Bayliss in the final four rounds, which kicks off with a return visit to the UK (Donington) on September 3.

Nieto completed a pair of fifths in race two ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) and local wildcard Tom Sykes (Suzuki), who was running a stunning third in race one before a stone lodged in his radiator.

Even though he increased his lead by 3pts at Brands Hatch, Bayliss was clearly dissatisfied with his performance.

"I'm quite disappointed to tell the truth, as I hoped to do a lot better today," said Bayliss. "By the last few laps of the first race the rear tyre wear was pretty bad and that's why we changed the tyre before race two. Unfortunately that was the wrong choice and there wasn't much I could do after the first few laps.

"I am however happy with podium in race one, as those 20 points have meant that I've increased my overall lead. That was a great race this morning and my congratulations go to Kiyo who really was fantastic here today."

Australian Karl Muggeridge (Honda) continued his recent run of outs at Brands Hatch, with a 16th and DNF.

In world Supersport, a pall fell over the paddock after Briton Craig Jones's massive crash, which saw him sent by air-ambulance to Royal London Hospital with head injuries.

The race was red-flagged after Jones' crash, but he was still credited with second place as results were taken from the previous lap. Jones' great mate Jonathan Rea (Honda) won his second race in a row to move into second in the standings behind Australian teammate Andrew Pitt.

Pitt was third in the two-part race, which was red-flagged for the first time after showers lashed the circuit.

Broc Parkes (Yamaha) and Josh Brookes (Honda) were fourth and fifth, while Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) and Mark Aitchison (Triumph) both crashed.

Pitt is now on 149pts, from Rea (117pts), Parks (113pts), Brookes (112pts) and Jones (100pts).

(Pic: World.Honda.com)

BRANDS HATCH WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS

23 finishers, six DNFs
Fastest lap: Kiyonari - 1:26.560 (Current record: James Toseland - 1:26.351)

25 finishers, four DNFs
Fastest lap: Fabrizio - 1:26.363

2008 WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (after 10 of 14 rounds):

Next round: Donington, UK, September 7