Shane Byrne has won the British Superbike Championship for the third time

Shane Byrne: British Superbike champion for a third time

Shane Byrne has been crowned British Superbike champion for the third time after dominating the 12th and final round at Brands Hatch.

The 35-year-old Londoner, who also won the title in 2003 and 2008, put himself on the brink by winning the first two races on his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki to move 23 points clear of Australian Josh Brookes.

'Shakey' Byrne then wrapped it up in style by completing the hat-trick in the third race despite a valiant attempt from Brookes.

Byrne followed up his victory on Saturday by claiming an incident-packed opener at the Kent circuit on Sunday.

He made a flying start and took command but the safety car was twice deployed after Tristan Palmer and James Westmoreland crashed out - both riders walking away.

Byrne remained in charge following the restarts and crossed the line 1.144 seconds ahead of Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) with Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda) third.

Brookes made a bold bid for victory in Sunday's second race by taking the lead early on but Byrne bided his time in behind and pounced on the penultimate lap before prevailing by 0.328 seconds.

Alex Lowes (WFR Honda) had crashed on Saturday before retiring in Sunday's opener and his miserable weekend continued when he took out Laverty on the final lap when disputing third place.

That left Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) to come home in third and the defending champion also finished third overall as Byrne captured the title with 683 points, 28 clear of Brookes.