Shane Byrne took a winning double in an incident-littered Oulton Park round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship to tighten his grip on the crown.

The first race was stopped on the opening lap when five riders tipped off in three incidents, and with rain falling prior to the re-start, the teams gambled on tyre choice.

Tom Sykes led on his Rizla Suzuki but Cal Crutchlow nosed his HM Plant Honda ahead on the fourth lap, only to run wide at Lodge at half distance, giving the lead to Airwaves Ducati rider Byrne.

Byrne then held off the close attention of Leon Haslam to take the victory.

"I tried really hard to keep the bike upright and keep the win - it made for a really amusing race which I am pleased to have won," he said.

Sykes led the second race until a controversial attempted overtaking move by Leon Haslam saw the Suzuki rider crash out.

Haslam ran wide but was later excluded from his fourth-place finish by race officials who had studied the incident.

Crutchlow had the lead, but not for long before Byrne - who at one point had dropped back to 11th place after an error at the chicane - had nosed ahead on the 12th lap.

Next time round, Crutchlow crashed, sustaining ankle injuries, with the action red-flagged.

That meant Byrne was credited with the victory which gave him a 41-point championship lead over team-mate Leon Camier, who twice finished third on Monday.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race One:

1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati)

2. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +0.204s

3. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +2.604s

4. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +11.495s

5. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +20.015s

6. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +22.023s

7. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +37.259s

8. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +39.322s

9. Tristan Palmer (Tena for Men Honda) +54.028s

10. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +57.885s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race Two:

1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati)

2. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +4.247s

3. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +8.027s

4. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +8.152s

5. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +1 lap

6. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +1 lap

7. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +1 lap

8. Simon Andrews (Jentin Racing/Lloyds British Yamaha) +1 lap

9. Scott Smart (Hawk Kawasaki) +1 lap

10. Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +1 lap

The Bennetts British Superbike Championship

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Sporting Life / Eurosport