Ryuichi Kiyonari took the second victory on the Snetterton 300 circuit in an incident-packed final race of the day for the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship as he stole the lead on the last lap as Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and John Hopkins clashed for the lead.

Kiyonari said:

"I am of course happy for the win and I was lucky as I could have been third rather than first. I found it very difficult to pass Josh Brookes and then I tried to catch the leading group and I think with more laps maybe I could have. I am sorry for Shakey and John but we needed the win here for our championship especially after some bad results. Our hard work has finally paid off and my confidence is high so now I look forward to Oulton Park."

There was drama on the opening lap as the pack streamed down to Montreal for the first time with Ryuichi Kiyonari leading the way from John Hopkins. However as the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki rider forcefully took the lead Kiyonari had to pick up the HM Plant Honda and behind him Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill clipped his back wheel and crashed out of contention. He was able to make it back to the pitlane but was disappointingly forced to retire as the team frantically tried to repair the damage. A lap later the Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati of Michael Rutter also returned to the garage to retire, joining Motorpoint Yamaha's James Westmoreland who had suffered a technical problem on the warm up lap.

Hopkins then held the lead from Kiyonari and Josh Brookes who had stormed through to third on the opening lap for Relentless Suzuki by TAS. Hopkins went wide on the exit of Montreal on the third lap and Kiyonari looked to try and pass, but the American was on a charge and dragged himself back on line ahead of his HM Plant Honda rival. It was disaster on the third lap for WFR Honda's Graeme Gowland; he won the opening Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo race of the day but he crashed out at Hamilton ending his chance of a winning double.

Hopkins maintained his position as he came under fire from Kiyonari and Brookes who were hounding him for the lead before the race was red flagged on the eighth lap when Simon Andrews and Steve Brogan crashed heavily at Riches after Alex Lowes suffered a mechanical failure on the MSS Colchester Kawasaki. Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo rider Andrews sustained a broken right leg whilst Jentin Honda's Brogan suffered a shoulder injury and both riders were taken to the circuit medical centre for further assessment.

On the restart Hopkins again had a flying start off the line ahead of Brookes, Byrne and Kiyonari as the race was resumed over nine laps. Byrne was looking to make a move on his Australian rival and he was able to pass on the brakes into Riches for the second time to put the HM Plant Honda into second place.

There were two fierce battles as Hopkins and Byrne fought for the lead as Brookes and Kiyonari diced for the final podium place over the final laps. Kiyonari was able to finally make a move at Agostini on the seventh lap as he launched down the inside and held off Brookes who tried to take the position back. Byrne took the lead on the penultimate lap with a tight line into Coram which left Hopkins second and looking to take the position back on the final lap.

Byrne held the lead into Riches but Hopkins tried to take the inside line into Oggies to take the lead and the pair collided; both riders did everything they could to stay upright as Kiyonari and Brookes stormed passed. Hopkins was able to rejoin in third ahead of Byrne in fourth as they completed the final lap.

Michael Laverty held onto fifth place as Martin Jessopp secured his best result of the season for the Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati team in sixth. Motorpoint Yamaha's Loris Baz was seventh with Chris Walker scoring his second top ten in eighth place. Ian Lowry scored an impressive ninth place with Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo race winner Jake Zemke taking his first win of the season for WFR Honda and completing the top ten.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, race two result:

Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda)
Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki) +0.810s
John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +1.518s
Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +3.550s
Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +4.189s
Martin Jessopp (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +9.648s
Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +9.815s
Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +16.360s
Ian Lowry (Buildbase BMW) +18.208s
Jake Zemke (WFR Honda) +20.148s

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Snetterton:

Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 201
John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 182
Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 140
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 120
Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 119
Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 91