Byrne had not won for seven races

Shane Byrne clinched the British Superbike title with victory in the opening race of round 10 at Cadwell Park.

But the MonsterMob Ducati rider had to settle for third place in the second race as Lincolnshire rider Steve Plater took the spoils in front of the record 36,250 crowd at his local circuit.

Byrne, who had gone seven races without a win, ignored the bruising he had taken in a crash during qualifying to grab the lead from John Reynolds at Park Corner on the first lap in race one.

Plater, riding a Honda, moved into second place and threatened before a machine problem halted him.

There was no respite as Reynolds upped the power and moved his Rizla Suzuki to within a couple of machine lengths of the leader, but Byrne held on.

OVERALL STANDINGS 1 S Byrne (Ducati) 406 points 2 J Reynolds (Suzuki) 277 3 M Rutter (Ducati) 243 4 S Plater (Honda) 227 5 Y Kagayama (Suzuki) 214 6 G Richards (Kawasaki) 210

"I had to ride really hard over the last two laps, John was making life anything but easy," said Byrne.

"That was one of the hardest races I have ever had - I tried hard to break John but he was as strong as I expected him to be.

"The win was fantastic, and the right way to win the title. People had been saying to me 'ride for two safe fifth places and take the title that way', but if I had done that I would have sulked all of the way home. This is just great."

It had been a traumatic race for two-time former champion Reynolds, as his team-mate Yukio Kagayama had been involved in a crash with Chris Heath during the morning practice.

The Japanese rider suffered serious pelvic injuries and was taken to hospital in Lincoln before being transferred to Queens Medical Centre at Nottingham.

Heath received treatment for ankle injuries at Grimsby Hospital.

"I just wanted to get the bike home," said Reynolds, who was also second in race two - just 0.227 seconds down on Plater, with Byrne third.

British Touring Cars

Warren Hughes claimed his first victory of the Green Flag British Touring Car Championship season in race one at Brands Hatch.

The Newcastle-born driver, who started third on the grid, eventually prevailed as Vauxhall's Yvan Muller extended his lead in the championship.

The Frenchman came home second, almost three seconds behind Hughes' MG, but Vauxhall team-mate and title rival James Thompson had to make do with fifth.

Hughes' team-mate Colin Turkington finished third while Matt Neal, who won last time out at Snetterton, was fourth for Honda.