Crutchlow looked again for the lead at Shell Oils on lap three and again at Lodge as he attempted to take the lead, but behind them, Byrne was starting to close in in third. Haslam was still fourth ahead of Camier, but Michael Rutter was now up into the top six with Harris having fallen coming through Druids and been forced into retirement. Debutant Tom Grant, Scott Smart, Stuart Easton and Guy Martin completed the top ten.
On lap four, Crutchlow finally made a move for the lead stick into Old Hall to demote Sykes down to second, while Haslam lost out on fourth to Camier as Airwaves man finally managed to find a way through.
Byrne was quickly putting Sykes under pressure for second place and by lap seven, he was in a position to launch a move for second, getting a better run up Clay Hill to take the position and set off in pursuit of Crutchlow. Further down the top ten, Michael Laverty was a man on the move on the Relentless Suzuki and was lapping quicker than those around him and had climbed into the top eight.
In the Cup Class, Steve Mercer held the lead ahead of Luke Quigley, with Chris Burns having climbed up to third place despite starting from the pitlane.
On lap ten, Sykes found himself under pressure from Camier who had closed onto the rear of the Suzuki, but suddenly the pair were dicing for second rather than third after Crutchlow made a mistake at Lodge and went off into the gravel. It handed Byrne the lead from Sykes and Camier, with Haslam fourth and Crutchlow remounting in fifth, just ahead of Rutter.
The following lap saw Camier make it an Airwaves 1-2 as he got ahead of Sykes with Haslam also getting past the Rizla rider to take third. Sykes saw his challenge then effectively end on lap twelve when he went straight across the grass at Hizzies and slipped back from the leading trio.
