Crutchlow turns first win into first double

Cal Crutchlow has followed up his first World Superbike Championship victory with a second success at Silverstone after coming out on top of a race-long battle with Jonathan Rea.

Rea led for almost the entirety of the race having snatched the lead into the first turn, but Crutchlow's close presence left him with no opportunity to relax.

A similar scenario to that of the first race, both Rea and Crutchlow immediately established themselves as the men to beat as they forced their way to the front and quickly gapped the chasing pack.

Crutchlow continued to keep Rea honest over the ensuing laps, never allowing the Ten Kate Honda rider to break free by more than half a second, the pair indulging in some formation racing as they shadowed one another.

Even so, while Rea was proving a sterner test for Crutchlow than in the first race, the Yamaha rider's aggressive riding style suggested he was capable of overhauling the man ahead of him.

Showing nothing more than the occasional feigned passing manoeuvre, Crutchlow eventually made his decisive pass on lap 16 of 18 on the run up the Becketts. A heart-stopping moment on the exit of Chapel did allow Rea a run on Crutchlow down the Hangar Straight and into Stowe, but the Northern Irishman would run wide, effectively ending his chances of getting back on terms.

It meant Crutchlow was able to cruise home for his second win of the day, a result that catapults him up the overall order from tenth at the start of the weekend to fifth - and ahead of team-mate James Toseland.

Rea's fourth consecutive podium, meanwhile, means he has made third position almost his own in the overall standings, 39 points up on Carlos Checa.

The fight for the final podium position was harder fought, with Leon Haslam suggesting he would make it an identical top three as he held down third in the early stages.

However, with Haslam unable to pull away from the chasing field as he fended off title rival Max Biaggi, it allowed Leon Camier to work his way into contention instead, the Aprilia rider charging up from 16th on the grid to go from sixth to third in the space of four laps.

Although he gave chase to the leaders briefly, Camier would end up in a fairly lonely third for his third podium finish of the season.

While Biaggi would ease his relentless attack on Haslam when he ran wide at chicane on lap13, allowing both James Toseland and Shane Byrne through, Toseland would resume the pressure on the Suzuki rider.

Nonetheless, while Toseland did nose in front with two laps remaining, Haslam fought back to grab the position again, the pair almost coming together over the finish line as the Yamaha man made a last ditch attempt to round his rival on the outside.

Toseland held onto fifth, despite crossing the line on the Astroturf, while Biaggi got the better of Byrne for sixth, the quartet separated by just one second.

Jakub Smrz racked up his first top ten result on the Aprilia in ninth, ahead of Checa, while Ruben Xaus, Josh Brookes, Noriyuki Haga, Tom Sykes and Lorenzo Lanzi completed the points' paying positions.

Notable retirements, meanwhile, included Troy Corser, who crashed his BMW at Copse at the start of lap two whilst running fourth, and Michel Fabrizio, who ran fifth early on before slipping back and retiring with technical issues.