Qualifying saw three Ducatis on the front row, with Byrne’s works machine on pole. He was split from Michael Rutter’s similar bike by the Suzuki of John Reynolds, now fully fit following his collar bone injury. The big surprise was provided by Dean Ellison, putting his D&B 996 onto P4, ahead of several full-factory rivals. Row two had the Yamahas of Steve Hislop and Gary Mason, fifth and seventh, Yukio Kagayama’s second Suzuki, sixth, and John Crawford. They were followed by the Honda pair of Steve Plater and Mark Heckles, then Sean Emmett and the three Kawasakis.

Race one quickly developed into a four-way competition, with Byrne leading away from Reynolds, Rutter and Ellison. Byrne seemed to be going away from the others even on the first lap, but Rutter was straight past Reynolds to give chase. He duly brought the gap down, keeping his title challenge intact in the process. A little way behind the first four came Hislop and Mason, with Plater seventh, after passing Kagayama, and Glen Richards ninth. Emmett was an early retirement, withdrawing to the pits with apparent rear tyre troubles.

As the race developed, it became clear that it was going to be another Ducati benefit. Byrne’s MonsterMob machine maintained the edge over Rutter’s Renegade example, but this pair had left the rest in their wake. As the handling of Reynolds’ GSX-R began to give him difficulties, Ellison and Hislop were able to mount an assault for third. Ellison took the place by going through on the inside of the final right-hander, and then Hislop soon followed suit, making his way around the outside of the Suzuki through a long right-hand bend. ‘JR’ was struggling, and dropped back to the pursuing field.

Eventually, Byrne was able to underline his recent supremacy, and he stretched out a handy lead over Rutter. Michael had done all he could to stay in touch, but the pace was too hot for him. As the race came to its conclusion, he now found himself closed down by the impressive Ellison, with Hislop still in tow. With a previous best result of seventh, this looked like being Ellison’s finest moment to date, and a first podium finish was realistic. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

Going into the last corner of the race right on Rutter’s exhausts, Dean’s Ducati started to slide and squirm, and though he fought to regain control, it threw him off. His race was over within sight of the flag. Byrne duly took his fifth victory of the season, with Rutter second from Hislop. The top ten was completed by Plater, Kagayama, Crawford, Mason, Reynolds, Richards and Heckles.

Race two was not dissimilar to the first at the start. Byrne took the lead, from Reynolds and Rutter, with the latter pair battling hard through the early corners. Rutter emerged ahead of the former champion, who was himself just clear of Ellison, Hislop, Plater, Kagayama and Emmett. Rutter once again tried to attack Byrne for the lead, but was instead passed by Reynolds as his bike’s superior power came into play in a straight line. Meanwhile, Kagayama’s second Suzuki dropped to eighth as he missed out one of the chicanes.

This time the leading trio stayed together, pulling away from the next group of three. Ellison had his work cut out trying to maintain fourth, with Plater and Hislop right behind him. Sure enough, Plater went for the inside through a fast left-hander, and his VTR was in front. Before long, he was leaving the rest behind, whereas Emmett was catching up to Ellison and Hislop. The Scot was next to move up, passing on the inside at the last turn, leaving Ellison leading Emmett’s works Ducati.

At the front, Reynolds was looking to try and score the first victory for a non-Ducati, and was menacing Byrne for the lead. Into the first corner he actually went ahead, but was going too quickly at the time and found himself put straight back in his place on the exit. In the meantime, team-mate Kagayama was making rapid progress, passing Hislop for fifth and attacking Plater. Before long he was able to blast past the Honda on the straight as this pair moved clear of Hislop. Sadly for Emmett, he had to withdraw again. It marked his fifth no-score.

Even though the leaders were eventually fairly well spaced, the drama was not over. Kagayama had a ragged moment when his foot came off the peg, and moments later he was hit by Plater. Both bikes remained upright, but the Honda speared off the track and then crashed itself to pieces as it slid back across the tarmac, with the rider not far behind. Plater was alright, and luckily Hislop was far enough back to avoid any danger. Kagayama was able to continue largely unaffected, and held his fourth to the flag.

Byrne pulled a huge wheelie as he crossed the line, finally finishing with a dominant margin. Even backmarkers through the last turns weren’t enough to worry him. Reynolds was second, for his best finish of the year, and was clear of Rutter in third. Kagayama and Hislop were followed by Heckles, with Ellison ending up back in seventh, from Richards, Mason and Crawford. With a second and a third, as opposed to two seconds, Rutter now found himself 55 points down on Byrne. It looks like the championship could be quite one-sided.

Standings after eight races: Byrne 190; Rutter 135; Richards 87; Kagayama 82; Hislop 77; Mason 75; Plater and Reynolds 64; Crawford 55; Smart 47; Heckles 41; Emmett 39.

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