As the conditions worsened, Michael Laverty was the next faller, at Druids the following lap, while up front Kiyo was determined not to let Haslam get away, inexorably closing down the gap that separated the pair of them and their frenetic all-out pace leaving the chasing pack behind.
Harris passed Byrne to take third in the battle for best-of-the-rest, with the flying Rutter – the only man capable of lapping close to the two leaders' pace – revelling in the conditions to move up to fifth, ahead of Hill and Rea.
Separate incidents for both Rea and Harris saw the former losing two laps and the latter out of the race at Druids with an accident on lap five of the re-started race. At the front, meanwhile, Kiyo was lining Haslam up for a move, just biding his time, while Rutter's charge seemed to have come to a standstill faced with the immovable object that was Byrne, but fortune would smile on the Stobart ace yet.
With just over half the race gone Kiyo was through, as Rutter also successfully made his move for third, only for the pair of them to lose their positions again the next time round. But the drama was far from over yet.
Two laps later and Kiyo was back in the lead, with the duelling Byrne and Rutter an incredible 15 seconds back, such was the frantic pace at the front as Haslam refused to let his Japanese rival break clear.
Then with just five laps to go the action was red-flagged again, and this time for good, as Byrne came a cropper between Paddock Hill Bend and Druids, flying over his handlebars and ending up lying unconscious in the middle of the track. Although the worst was feared, thankfully he suffered nothing more than concussion, though it would rule the Rizla Suzuki star out of the second race of the day and scupper his chances of holding onto fourth spot in the championship.
“I am disappointed to have finished the season with a crash,” Shakey said afterwards. “I was on fire all weekend and really thought I could have won or at least got on the podium, but the damp conditions caught me out.
