Behind the front three, there was the mother of all battles as
Kenan Sofuoglu, his Ten Kate team-mate
Ryuichi Kiyonari, Haga, Max Neukirchner and a bunch of other hooligans passed and repassed each other like it was a five lap ‘dash for cash'.
Nieto relinquished second to Checa a few laps later, and Carlos immediately tried to get his head down and chase Bayliss. The Ducati man responded, however, and the gap wavered between two and three seconds, but Bayliss never really looked under threat.
Xaus and Nieto provided an entertaining little cabaret in the closing stages, with Nieto waving fists at his rival, before the Suzuki's straight-line speed advantage allowed him to soon pull clear.
Up front, it was dominance from Bayliss, who managed to score a double on home ground and make a very real play for the 2008 crown, the weekend putting him more than a 25-point round win in front after only four races.
Checa rewarded his hardworking Hannspree team with a spirited ride to second, on a brand new bike that has hardly had any testing, as he beat Qatar winner Nieto soundly into third. Xaus completed a very Spanish flavour to the placings with a solid fourth.
Neukirchner was a fighting fifth on the second Suzuki, having battled his way past Haga and co. Coming with the German was the vastly improved Kiyonari, finally showing glimpses of the form that has won him two consecutive BSB titles.
Haga held on well for seventh on a tough weekend, while another BSB champion was eighth, Gregorio Lavilla enjoying a late surge up the order and providing the top ten finish Vent Axia team boos Paul Bird has asked for.
Rounding out the top ten were the DF Racing Hondas of Russell Holland and Muggeridge, the latter having caught and past Sofuoglu on the final lap and helping to further good results on older spec machinery on home ground.
