Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill took an impressive victory in the opening race of the day at Knockhill as he headed off the title leaders in the battle for the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.

Hill said:

"What a good Fathers Day present for my dad! It has been a hard few rounds and we have been on the pace and then it just hasn't come together in the race. I thought it could have been a lottery again here this weekend but we have been lucky it was dry so there were no excuses this weekend. I thought if we could get into the front and get into a rhythm then we could be there and I couldn't believe it when I crossed the line. We know where we want to be and that is on the podium."

Hill took the holeshot off the pole position on the opening lap to take the lead into turn one and then edged out a commanding lead as the duel for the podium place continued behind. The opening lap saw heartbreak for Alex Lowes as he crashed the MSS Colchester Kawasaki at the Hairpin and ended his chance of a strong finish.

Mason was holding on to second place ahead of John Hopkins, Josh Brookes and Shane 'Shakey' Byrne over the opening laps with the championship-leading HM Plant Honda eager to move up the order. However Byrne made a mistake at the Hairpin as he tried to pass Brookes to run wide on the third lap and he had to close him down all over again.

The Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati team had a tough race as Michael Rutter was forced into the pitlane with a suspected suspension issue, he rejoined later but failed to finish the race. His team-mate Martin Jessopp didn't have any luck either as he crashed out at Leslies with eight laps remaining.

At the front Hill was still pushing hard to edge ahead of his rivals lap by lap as Byrne moved ahead of Brookes for a second time on the fifth lap and was able to fend off the Australian. Byrne then had the gap to bridge to Mason and Hopkins and it wasn't until the 24th lap that the title leader was able to dive down the inside of the MSS Colchester Kawasaki rider at the Hairpin. He then set to close and pass Hopkins with the final laps a battle of attrition but the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki rider kept his cool and despite coming under pressure on the final two laps held on to take his sixth podium finish of the season ahead of Byrne who remains at the top of the standings.

Mason held onto fourth, but the battle for fifth continued for the majority of the race with Brookes able to stay ahead after a mid-race dice with James Westmoreland to take the place and more points for his title challenge.

The second Swan Yamaha of Michael Laverty was able to pass Westmoreland with two laps remaining to move himself up to sixth after running twelfth at the end of the opening lap with the Motorpoint Yamaha rider relegated to seventh. Jon Kirkham bounced back from a tough warm up session this morning to finish eighth ahead of Loris Baz and Ryuichi Kiyonari.

In the Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo class Glen Richards took his second victory of the season to take the lead in the overall standings ahead of Simon Andrews and Scott Smart who took the advantage on the final lap.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, race one result:

Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha)
John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +8.907s
Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +9.123s
Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +15.354s
Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki) +21.816s
Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +21.823s
James Westmoreland (Motorpoint Yamaha) +24.920s
Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +26.558s
Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +26.665s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +26.925s

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after race one:

Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 152
John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 141
Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 95
Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 89
Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 79
Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) 71