British Superbike: Alex Lowes snatches British SuperBike crown from local hero
ALEX LOWES kept his nerve to snatch the MCE Insurance British Superbikes crown from Shane Byrne, in a dramatic final race showdown at Brands Hatch.
RACING
The Samsung Honda rider knew that to take the silverware for the fi rst time he had to beat the three-times champion and local hero Byrne yesterday.
It was a tall order, especially as both of them had crashed earlier in the afternoon on the rain-soaked Kent Grand Prix circuit.
But they were up for the challenge and produced an epic battle, albeit for second place, to decide the outcome of the championship.
Ahead of them, and almost unnoticed, Tyco Suzuki-mounted Aussie Josh Brookes was completing a hat-trick of victories over the weekend.
Lowes started the decisive race from the third row, with Byrne back on the eighth row on his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki.
The odds were stacked against him but Byrne was in no mood to concede anything and was carving through the pack, challenging Lowes for second place on the sixth lap.
Next time round, Byrne was second and if he had held on the title would have been his – but Lowes was full of fi ght, upping the pace to go back in front with fi ve laps to go.
Lowes snatched the title by just seven points, to claim equal family bragging rights with his twin brother Sam, who is the new World Supersport champion.
“I’m pretty happy about it – at least now Sam can’t take the mickey out of me as he would have done if I had been second,” said Lowes.
“It was an unbelievable last race, really difficult and I just didn’t know how fast to push. I saw on my pit-signals that Shane was closing on me and round here that is the last thing I wanted to see.
“It was a case of keeping focused and when Shane got by me I knew that I had to pass him if I wanted the title and I pushed on hard.
![The Lowes family now have two Britiish champions as Alex's brother Sam is the world Supersport champion [GETTY]](http://images.dailystar-uk.co.uk/dynamic/61/photos/203000/39203.jpg)
“I gave my all in that race, didn’t realise that I was running second, then thought, ‘That’s enough’.
“But Alex came back at me, took me and I tried to stay with him but I pushed a bit too hard into Druids on the last lap and lost a bit.
“No-one is more worthy of the title than Alex.”
Aussie Brookes admitted that his hat-trick glory was: “A bit of an anti-climax – to win all the races but not be a title contender.
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