Irwin seventh as Ryde wins title after dramatic final race

Northern Ireland rider Glenn Irwin finished seventh in race three on the final weekend of the British Superbike Championship as Kyle Ryde won the title for the first time in dramatic fashion.

A final lap move saw Ryde win race three by 0.296 seconds and finish one point ahead of Tommy Bridewell in the standings after the two battled it out in Sunday's two final pulsating races.

Irwin's remote hopes of winning the title were ended when he crashed out while in fourth place in Saturday's race one, suffering an ankle injury.

Ryde was one point ahead of Bridewell going into Sunday's two final races and the two championship contenders produced a thrilling penultimate race.

They swapped the lead on numerous occasions over the 12 laps before Bridewell took a 0.257 second victory which saw him leapfrog Ryde to take an advantage of four points at the head of the standings.

However, Ryde's championship hopes remained very much alive with a further 35 points available to the winner of race three which took place later on Sunday.

And it was another enthralling race befitting of a finale with Ryde edging Bridewell by the narrowest of margins on the final lap after the title had changed hands at various stages across the 12 laps.

Irwin, who had finished 10th in race two earlier in the day, was competing with Ryde and Bridwell at the start of the race but fell off in the later stages, slipping down to seventh.

He did claim third place in the championship, 104 points behind Bridewell, with Danny Kent in fourth spot, a further nine adrift.

Ryan Vickers completed the race-three podium positions with Kent, Max Cook and Josh Brookes filling out the top six.

Irwin's brother Andrew finished ninth in the race and 10th in the overall standings.