Tommy Hill and Josh Brookes took the victories in the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park, while Ryuichi Kiyonari packed the points, to leave the title fight on a knife-edge.

Riding the Worx Crescent Suzuki, Hill powered out of a comparatively lean spell, first by taking pole start, and then taking that pace into the first race at Lincolnshire circuit, overcoming the early threat of HM Plant Honda rider Brookes by nosing ahead at Barn to take the victory by some five seconds.

“We are back to where we needed to be, back to where we were at the start of the season, winning,” said a delighted Hill as he celebrated his first win in 15 races since his previous success at Thruxton back in April.

“We’ve regrouped as a team. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve muscled our way through. We tried various things in the last round at Brands Hatch which didn’t work and here we have gone dramatically the other way and that is working well,” added Hill.

Brookes took second from his team-mate Kiyonari with Michael Laverty fourth for Relentless Suzuki ahead of the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati of Michael Rutter as James Ellison took sixth for Swan Honda.

Alastair Seeley virtually ensured his place among the six “title-fighters” going into the final phase of the series as he finished eighth on his Relentless Suzuki, while his key rival John Laverty tipped off on the final lap amid a controversial move by Tommy Bridewell who was later excluded from the results.

Hill was eager to complete the daily double, taking an early lead but behind him Brookes, having attacked and passed Kiyonari, was pegging the leader back and looking for a way through.

Brookes leapt spectacularly over the Mountain, cresting it perfectly and then upping the power charged ahead of Hill on the twelfth lap, but Hill was full of fight, determined to hit back.

However three laps later, the race was red-flagged as James Edmeades crashed heavily, sustaining a fractured pelvis, leaving Brookes the winner by 0.230 secs.

“That was what I race for – I want wins, and I was thinking when and where to make the move, and then I thought just go for it,” said Brookes. Kiyonari took third ahead of Michael Laverty, Rutter and Ellison.

These races decided the six riders going through to the “Showdown” phase of the series, which begins at Croft on 12 September, and as they arrive there, the “title-fighters” will have had their points scores at the end of the ninth round deleted – instead, each will be credited with 500 points, plus the bonus points reflecting their performances to date.

Taking this into account, Hill and Kiyonari are level on 525 points, with Brookes on 524, leaving all to play for over the next seven races, climaxing at the Oulton Park finale on 8/9/10 October.

Liverpudlian Steve Brogan completed a winning double aboard his Jentin BMW in the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO class to take charge in the title stakes.

In Supersport it was Sam Lowes who won to extend his championship lead, while Jason O’Halloran finished as top Australian with another solid fourth position. South Australian Billy McConnell crashed out while running in second.

Glen Richards placed third in the Superstock 1000 category, also involved in the battle for the podium in Supersport until eventually settling for sixth.

Click here for detailed results