Larne’s Jonathan Rea is about to retain his World Superbike Championship crown after notching up a brace of podiums in Spain over the weekend.
Rea now requires just two points from the last two races in a fortnight’s time in Qatar.
The Kawasaki rider had to play second best over the weekend to Englishman Chas Davis, who scored a fantastic double on his Aprilia machine, but the results leave Rea odds-on favourite to retain his title.
A 14th place finish or better in the final two races at Qatar will give Rea the title, and that is almost certain to happen.
Meanwhile, Shane Byrne has done it again by taking the British Superbike Championship title in the final round at Brands Hatch at the weekend.
Byrne went into the triple-header decider at the weekend knowing that it was only Kawasaki rider Leon Haslem who could stop him from making it title win number five but that was thrown out in race one when Haslem crashed out.
Byrne could himself only manage eighth place in a race which was won by JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider Peter Hickman from Tyco BMW rider Christian Iddon. Carrickfergus rider Glenn Irwin, on the BeWiser Ducati, took a brilliant third place finish.
Race two was won by James Ellision on another one of the JG Speedfit Kawasakis, with American John Hopkins taking second place and Hickman third.
Irwin produced another fine result in seventh, one place behind Byrne. With Haslem only fifth and outside the top three, the title was handed to Byrne for his fifth time in asking.
The final and third Superbike race, it was being led by Ellision before the red flags came out after a competitor’s machine caught fire.
The organisers had to regrid the race for a restart over 10 laps. It was Ellision who made the break at the front and with the rest of the pack battling it out for the final podium places, Ellison continued to take the win with John Hopkins second and Byrne third.
In the Supersport 600 races, Scotsman Tarren MacKenzie clinched the British Supersport title after his main rival James Westmoreland crashed out in race two.
In race one, it was Bradley Ray who took the race win from MacKenzie and Portadown’s David Allingham, while race two had to be restarted after Westmoreland crashed out.
On the restart, it was a nine-lap battle between Bradley Ray and Tarren MacKenzie which went right down to the last corner of the last lap when MacKenzie took the lead from Ray to take the race win and of course the 2016 title.
The Superstock 1000cc Championship race was won by the ageless Michael Rutter on his Bathams BMW.
