ONE of the biggest crowds in recent years packed into Thruxton Circuit for round six of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.

In perfect conditions the tens of thousands of avid fans were treated to eight blockbuster battles, including two top-flight BSB contests.

Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes celebrated a double win, fending off competition from title rivals Shane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari with less than half a second covering the top three places.

After the racing, Josh Brookes said: “It’s a pleasure to be up here winning again. The second race was a lot harder than the first – I knew that anything could happen so I tried to pace myself, but people kept passing me so I decided to be more aggressive and make some moves.

“All in all I couldn’t ask for a better weekend – the team have given me a bike that can win two races and now I’m looking forward to the next one.”

Second-placed Shane Byrne said: “In the grand scheme of things we’ve got to be happy with the weekend – we’ve had two solid points hauls with two second places.

Continued on page 52 From back page “I rode my heart out to catch Josh in both races, but he was so quick in the first part of the lap. He’s ridden really well today, and his bike has been the best around Thruxton, but we’ll be working hard to get back to the top next time out.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari added: “I tried very hard all weekend and am a bit frustrated not to get further forward. I had a lot of chances to get past Shakey but couldn’t do it on the brakes – if I’d pushed a little harder I could have won today, but now I must just try to win the next one.”

Thruxton Group managing director Bill Coombs said: “What a day! 2014 has been an incredible season for Thruxton, and to see so many racing fans here once again is a great reward for all the people that work amazingly hard to make these events happen.

“British Superbikes always put on a show, and both of the races today were superb – not to mention all the breath-taking support races which kept everyone transfixed on the track!

The next round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship is a triple header weekend and takes place at Oulton Park in Cheshire.