Shane Byrne leads Alex Lowes in race 1 at Brands. Picture: Simon Hildrew

Kent racer Shane Byrne finished with two podium finishes in the British Superbike opening weekend at Brands Hatch.

Byrne’s hopes of making it two wins from two ended as he narrowly avoided hitting rival Kevin Ellison and had to settle for third. However, it was an impressive showing as he left season title challenger Ryuichi Kiyonari in his shadow to lead the championship ahead of Alex Lowes and Josh Brookes

The Sittingbourne racer got his title defence off to a great start from pole position in the opening race as he led Lowes and Brookes over the line to claim victory.

The opening battle was red flagged when Dan Linfoot and James Westmoreland crashed out. The former suffered a cracked pelvis injury.

Kiyonari, who holds more race wins than any other in BSB history, finished eighth in race one and fourth in the second.

Ellison took the second victory, ahead of Lowes, with Byrne finishing six seconds behind following his close-call as he battled for the lead three laps from home.

He said: “I was gutted to finish third (in race two) but at the same time to have come away from the first round with a win and a third leaves me pretty happy.”

The championship continues at Thruxton this weekend.