On the restart, Byrne got away cleanly but he was now being tailed by Harris, who caught Crutchlow unawares into Redgate to move into second place. Elsewhere, there was additional movement with Leon Camier passing Haslam, only for the HM Plant Honda rider to get him back almost straight away.
Sykes was also on the move, passing Ellison on lap 12 and following it up almost immediately with a pass on Crutchlow for third.
Indeed, Crutchlow was beginning to fall backwards, just as Haslam – now past Ellison too - was starting to make his presence felt at the front, the two team-mates swapping positions for fourth and fifth on lap 12.
All the dicing behind was just what Byrne needed to stretch his legs, the Ducati rider setting a series of fastest laps to eke his lead out to Harris, who by this point was being harassed by Haslam, his charge having seen pass Sykes on lap 16. Haslam made his move stick at Melbourne, with Sykes also finding his way through just a lap later as Harris began to struggle with an ill-handling bike.
Despite setting off in chase of Byrne, it was too late for Haslam to prevent ‘Shakey's' fifth victory in seven races.
Haslam will be a satisfied second after making impressive progress up the order over the course of the race, while Sykes will be equally happy with third after his problems in qualifying.
Fourth place fell to Ellison, who made the most of Harris' ailing Yamaha to pass at Fogarty on the last lap, while Camier and Crutchlow were also able to find a way past when Harris made an error at Melbourne. Despite crossing the line seventh – having lost five places in four laps -, Harris will at least be relieved to finally get on the score sheet.
Michael Rutter made a strong start but would eventually slip to eighth, just ahead of Michael Laverty, who had to battle his way up the order after starting from the pit lane. Simon Andrews rounded out the top ten.
