Ryuichi Kiyonari secured his third British Superbike Championship crown after a dramatic final round of the series.
Hill slips up in chaotic round at Oulton Park
Ryuichi Kiyonari secured his third British Superbike Championship crown after a dramatic final round of the series at Oulton Park.
The HM Plant Honda rider headed into the first of three races sitting third in the points standings, but propelled himself into contention by winning race one on Saturday afternoon.
And then the first of Sunday's races proved to be the major turning point for championship leader Tommy Hill.
Hill was locked in a fierce battle with Swan Honda rider James Ellison but on the seventh lap it all went wrong for the Worx Suzuki rider.
As he tried to squeeze through on the inside line at Lodge Corner, Hill clipped Ellison's bike.
Spectacular
Both riders fell but Hill managed to remount and set off again, only to crash spectacularly soon afterwards, with his bike now too damaged to continue.
Four other riders fell in the aftermath of that incident and the red flag was brought out to stop the race. Kiyonari took charge on the re-start, winning comfortably to move ahead in the title race.
Hill's team managed to repair his bike and he rewarded them with a fifth-place finish in the final race of the season.
But by now there was no stopping Kiyonari, who built a commanding lead from the second lap on to take his seventh victory of the season and with it the British title.
The Japanese rider finished on 649 points with team-mate Josh Brookes second on 625 and Hill third on 620 after leading the title chase for most of the season.
