Shane Byrne has scored his eighth victory of the season at
Mallory Park after meticulously picking his way up the order to head off Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow.
Continuing to eke out his already substantial championship advantage, Byrne defied a disappointing start and a mid-race incident to pull off a number of tidy overtaking manoeuvres and win by a comfortable margin.
Indeed, Byrne didn't have it too easy from the start when he was bundled down to fourth place, behind early leader Cal Crutchlow, Michael Laverty and Leon Haslam. Pole sitter Tom Sykes, meanwhile, crossed the line at the end of the first lap in sixth following a tardy getaway, the Suzuki rider even slipping behind fast starting team-mate Atsushi Watanabe.
The first lap wasn't lacking in incident though after Leon Camier was squeezed off the circuit at turn one and launched into a series of dramatic looking rolls. The
Snetterton race winner, however, was able to make his own way back behind the barrier.
Back at the front, Haslam was placing Laverty under immediate pressure, slipping through at the hairpin on lap three, only to run wide and allow the Relentless Suzuki back into second straight away again.
It wasn't until lap six though that Haslam made his move stick, at the same corner. However, when Haslam ran slightly wide, Laverty attempted to slip back up the inside of the Honda at the exit, but was collected by Byrne, who was attempting an opportunistic move up the inside of both riders when Laverty effectively closed the door. Pressed up against the concrete wall that marks the inside of the corner, Byrne was lucky to keep going.
Although both riders got away again, Sykes was now up to third, ahead of a rather alarmed Laverty and a recovering Byrne, the duo staying in contention thanks to their huge lead over the chasing pack.
