Criticism spurs Hislop to extend his championship lead

Steve Hislop tightened his grip on the British Superbike Championship here yesterday with a double victory in the 10th round of the season. The MonsterMob Ducati rider dominated all weekend as he responded to criticism from team boss Paul Bird, who had claimed his rider was "too generous" to his rivals.

The Scotsman answered that with a blistering lap to claim pole position for the first time since April's second round and then maintained that pace in yesterday's two races, run in changeable conditions at the Lincolnshire circuit. Shane Byrne took the early initiative in the opening 18-lap race but was unable to shake off Hislop, who overcame early worries over the balance of his bike.

Hislop, who took the lead at half distance and consolidated his advantage with four fastest laps in six attempts, said: "Those three or four laps finally broke him. I had to do it because he just beat me last time out."

There was more to come in the second race, run in two sections either side of a light rain shower, and decided on aggregate time. Michael Rutter made the break, but Hislop was little more than a 10th of a second down when the red flags came out. On the re-start, Hislop lowered the lap record to one minute 24.883 seconds to claim his seventh triumph of the season. His second double win of the season extended Hislop's advantage over Sean Emmett, who claimed a fifth and a sixth, to 48 points with three rounds remaining.