Mallory is a short oval-type circuit, with added chicanes and the offshoot out to the Shaw’s Hairpin. There had been changes to the BSB line-up for this event, with four-time Mallory winner Michael Rutter joining another new team. After three meetings with the Worx Crescent Suzuki team, with whom he admitted he’d under-performed, Michael now moved to SMT Honda. Jason O’Halloran had moved into World Championship racing, and the experienced Rutter had won nine times in past seasons on the CBR1000RR.

Rutter’s availability was due to a change in the Suzuki team. 24-year-old Tommy Hill had joined them from WSB, returning to BSB after a year and a half away. He had previously raced Yamahas, finishing eighth overall in 2006, and having won a race the year before. He had no prior experience with a Suzuki race bike. 28-year-old Steve Brogan also returned to BSB action after a bit of an absence. He took over the HM Plant Honda from injured Glen Richards.

Another new name was Superstock and former Supersport rider Richard Cooper. With no Superstock race at Mallory, he and the Co-ordit Racing team had opted to try their hands competing in the BSB Cup class with their three-year-old Yamaha. He proved the sensation of qualifying, lining up fourth. Also at the front was Hill, in second, but for the fifth time pole position went to Camier. Third was taken by Chris Walker, twice a winner at Mallory, with the Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha. This was his first front row start of the season.

Fifth place was also a best yet for John Laverty, with Buildbase Kawasaki. Simon Andrews was next, with the green MSS Colchester Kawasaki, then followed the other Airwaves rider - James Ellison was ‘only’ seventh. The Hydrex Honda men were eighth and tenth, with Karl Harris ahead of Stuart Easton, making this the worst performance so far this year for Honda. Between them was Walker’s team-mate Graeme Gowland.

Rutter was eleventh, from Julien da Costa (MSS) and Tristan Palmer (Buildbase). David Johnson was in P14 with the Team Maxxis Yamaha, then it was Atsushi Watanabe (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) and Cup hotshot Gary Mason (Quay Garage Honda). Josh Brookes led the way for HM Plant Honda in a lowly P17, in front of Ian Lowry (Relentless).

There were spots of rain falling as race one got going, but this would not amount to anything particularly troublesome at this stage. Walker made the usual good start, and from the front row this got him into the lead, from Camier and Cooper. The first bend is the long right-handed Gerard’s, with the added left-right-left Charlie’s chicane nowadays taking them onto the next straight. Andrews went to the inside of Cooper at the first apex there, and the Cup rider was somehow bumped by following riders, including Harris. Cooper was knocked over, and a promising first Superbike race came to a very premature ending.

The moisture meant that grip was not perfect, and with the Cooper incident somehow we saw Camier drop well outside the points positions. Walker was now pursued by Hill, with Andrews and Harris battling over third, from Easton, Laverty, da Costa, Rutter, Ellison, Gowland, Brookes and Mason. Andrews got back into third after losing it to Harris at Shaw’s, and the same hairpin then saw him get second with a pass on the inside of Hill.

Brookes was fastest at this early stage, and already overtaking people. The rain became heavier, but would soon reduce again, and grip remained pretty good. Andrews found it to be OK as he overtook Walker to lead the race, and initially started to pull away. The left-right Edwina’s chicane follows Charlie’s and the Stebbe Straight, and is another out-braking opportunity. This saw Hill also past Walker, only for the Yamaha rider to get it back on the way out, heading towards the Lake Esses. The following Shaw’s hairpin section saw Easton pass Harris for fourth.

Andrews now led Walker, Hill, Easton, Harris and Laverty, with Brookes already in place to pass da Costa at the hairpin for seventh. Rutter, Ellison, Gowland, Mason and Brogan followed, with Camier now through into P14. Simon’s lead was starting to look handy as the next pair stuck close together and had a slight margin over the Hydrex pair. Easton was starting to put a bit of distance back to his team-mate when he suddenly put his hand up out of Edwina’s and had to pull off. His Honda had developed an oil leak.

Before Easton’s exit, Brookes had already overtaken Laverty for sixth, going through on the inside round Gerard’s. He made one more place with an impressive tighter line than Harris through the final fast left Devil’s Elbow bend. Meanwhile Andrews, still with a wrist injury, seemingly missed a gear somewhere or made a small mistake which let Walker close in again. The weather was much improved as Hill now got close enough to harry the two ahead. Fourth man Brookes was catching them all.

Walker was back into the lead as he passed Andrews on the inside for the hairpin. However, Chris was then passed by both Andrews and Hill on the brakes as they leant in for Gerard’s. At two-thirds distance, these three were soon to be joined by Brookes, who had got clear of Harris, Laverty and Ellison. Camier had now got through to eighth, from Gowland, Rutter, da Costa, Mason, Brogan, Lowry and Johnson.

It was looking like the race was between four men. Andrews had been fourth three times, but had not yet reached a BSB podium; and Kawasaki had not had a race win in five years. Hill’s solitary BSB win was four years ago; Walker had not won a championship race in Britain since his heartbreaking 2000 season; and series rookie Brookes had been on the podium in the previous five races, but had not yet won. It had been an action packed race so far, but the biggest drama was yet to come.

The first four raced from the fast right-left Lake Esses bend into the short straight and the heavy braking zone for Shaw’s Hairpin. Brookes went to the inside of Walker to go for third place, but lost control on the brakes. The Honda shot straight ahead into leader Andrews as he started to turn, taking the 26-year-old out. The misfortune extended to Hill and Walker, who were also caught up in the incident and went down, as did the next two arrivals, Harris and Laverty. Ellison and the rest managed to find their way through, but of course the race was red flagged. Walker in particular looked to be unhappy with Brookes over the dramatic crash.

The race was far enough along for a result to be declared, but that led to some more controversy and disappointment. Following this kind of stoppage, the final positions are taken from a lap earlier. But unlike in World Championship racing, the British rules say that only those riders still running are to be counted. None of those involved this time had got their bikes running again, so the first six from a lap earlier were classified as non-finishers. Therefore, Ellison took his second BSB win, from Camier, Gowland, Rutter, da Costa, Mason, Brogan and so on.

Fairly obviously, the main contenders for this victory, Andrews, Hill and Walker, felt robbed with the ways things turned out. Brookes was apologetic, and managed to convey this to most of those concerned. However, he would also have to face an enquiry over the incident, and as it turned out his penalty was to be a two event ban, his riding branded as reckless.

Meanwhile, there was still another race to run, and a chance to make up for earlier disappointments. By the time of race two there had been an interlude of rain, and the riders went to the grid with wet weather tyres. The track was wet enough for spray to be kicked up as they got going, with Walker leading from the start, ahead of Hill. Cooper was quick to pass Camier for third, and when Hill went wide in the second part of Edwina’s he made that second. Camier, Ellison and Laverty were also quick to pass Hill.

With heavy rain falling, the gaps between the leaders started to grow, and Walker seemed to be getting clear. However, Cooper reversed that trend and was soon able to challenge the experienced race leader. Superbike débutant Cooper now overtook the man who’d won a WSB race in the wet as he got through on Walker on the inside for Charlie’s. Camier and Ellison followed the two leaders, but at this stage the unlucky Easton had already had to pull out again and was in the pits.

Rutter, a known ‘rainmaster’, had passed Hill at the hairpin, then found his way past Harris and Laverty to get into fifth. Tommy also got ahead of Karl and John, followed by the advancing Brogan, up six places from where he’d been on lap one. But the conditions meant that things were ever changing, with Laverty soon to recover ground and move back through to fifth, and catching those ahead - all four on Yamaha machinery.

Behind race leader Cooper there was a struggle between Walker and Camier. The championship leader overtook into Gerard’s, only for Chris to squeeze back through inside at Charlie’s. Leon made it by in another attempt at Gerard’s, then closed in on Richard. As a marginally drier line was visible on a still pretty wet track, Walker now came under pressure from Ellison. They swapped places at Devil’s Elbow, and back again at Gerard’s. James had another look, this time on the outside for the same corner, but was kept behind, and with Laverty getting closer.

However, a successful change involving an Airwaves rider saw Camier take the lead from Cooper on the inside going into Edwina’s. He started to pull clear, although his margin reduced again as he started negotiating a path through backmarkers. Ellison followed his team-mate’s example, and now got past Walker round the outside going into Gerard’s, and soon followed on by getting on the inside of Cooper going out of the Devil’s Elbow and onto the main Kirkby Straight.

Camier now led Ellison and, as Walker soon overtook Cooper on the inside for the hairpin, the two out front began to stretch clear. By half-distance Laverty was ready to pass Cooper for fourth. Rutter had regained sixth from Harris and got clear. Hill was in a solitary eighth, then there was Brogan, da Costa, Johnson, Palmer, Gowland, Peter Hickman, Andrews and the rest.

Camier led Ellison, Walker, Laverty, Cooper and Rutter, with the gaps between them all growing. Tricky conditions got worse as the rain intensified to torrential proportions, quickly leading to dangerous standing water on the track. This meant another early finish as the red flag came out, and as the weather did not improve it became impossible to restart. With only fifteen laps completed, only half points could be awarded. Despite an action packed afternoon, Airwaves Yamaha came out with another double one-two.

Suzuki and Kawasaki had featured up front, particularly in the first race, and yet the end result of the meeting was that Yamaha filled the podium both times. Honda, who’d had at least one man on the podium in every previous race during the season, therefore missed out this time. Leon Camier had been only eighth a lap before the end of the first race, but had some useful luck and took a second and a first, as did James Ellison. It made Leon’s first BSB title look all the more inevitable, especially with no points scored by each of his nearest Honda rivals.

A few other riders came away with a pair of decent results. Michael Rutter was fourth and sixth, Julien da Costa was fifth and tenth, and Steve Brogan was seventh and ninth. But for most of the usual contenders it was a case of what might have been. Several of them at least took one good result home - Chris Walker, John Laverty and Richard Cooper did, but each might have done so twice. With lower placings in race two, both Tommy Hill and Simon Andrews were the unlucky ones who had lost out in race one. Stuart Easton, of course, was unlucky twice without being in any incidents. Will it be calmer next time out?

Standings after fourteen races: Camier 299.5; Ellison 224; Easton 173; Richards 103; Brookes 99; Andrews 92.5; Harris 91.5; Walker 87; Lowry 86; da Costa 80; Guintoli 77; Mason 75.

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