Mallory is one of the shortest tracks in British competition, with a big sweeping loop, a couple of straights and curves, and a dog-leg into a tight hairpin. Of course, the added Bus Stop and Edwina’s chicanes have increased the distance travelled, and this year’s addition was the new right-left Charlie’s chicane in the second part of the long right-hand Gerard’s Bend, scene of several incidents last year.

Qualifying this year saw points leading Airwaves Ducati riders Gregorio Lavilla and Leon Haslam fastest, with five Honda riders in hot pursuit. First of these was 19-year-old Jonathan Rea on the Red Bull machine, with the HM Plant and Stobart bikes next - Ryuichi Kiyonari from Michael Rutter, Karl Harris and Michael Laverty. Shane Byrne completed row two on the Rizla Suzuki, whilst team-mate James Haydon was out of action following a practice crash on Friday. He would join the ITV commentary team for the day.

Dean Thomas was the first of the Kawasaki riders in ninth, on the Hawk machine, with the two Hydrex Hondas of Glen Richards and Gary Mason next. Scott Smart followed on with the Vivaldi Suzuki, from Jon Kirkham, Ben Wilson, James Buckingham, Craig Coxhell and the rest.

Race one started with a couple of doses of chaos. Kiyonari led away, from Rea, Rutter and Byrne, but behind Richards crashed into the barrier to the left of the start-finish line, after being hit by Wilson’s Suzuki. And at the tight new chicane, a mid-pack incident saw a few bikes go down, including Steve Plater and Ollie Bridewell. The safety car was despatched while the carnage was cleared. The restart had the same first four pursued into the action by Haslam, Lavilla and Harris.

A fast early pace took Kiyonari away from the main pack, but with Rea holding on well behind. With the Ducati pair both having men to get by, ‘Kiyo’ was looking good to make up for his disastrous Mallory in 2005. Byrne moved up to third with a pass on Rutter as they peeled into Gerard’s, the first turn off the main straight, and before long Haslam had also relegated the 34-year-old Honda man. As these two pulled clear of Rutter, Lavilla was now behind Harris in seventh, followed by Laverty and Thomas, and with quite a bit to do.

The Ducatis started to make their mark again, with Haslam getting past Byrne on the inside going into the right-handed Shaw’s hairpin, twitching sideways on the brakes. He began to pull away in pursuit of Kiyonari and Rea. More hairpin action came when Harris tried to get by Rutter on the outside. Both men got their braking wrong and ran on, but with Karl seriously delayed as he ran out of room and went beyond the edge of the tarmac.

This put Lavilla up to fifth, with Rutter behind sixth man Laverty, and Harris losing spots to Thomas, Coxhell, Billy McConnell and Wilson. Gregorio now homed in on Byrne, making an impressive pass on the inside at the tight apex for Charlie’s. Meanwhile, Haslam had got on terms with Rea, trying a move on the inside exiting the hairpin, but with more success on the brakes for the left-hand entry to Edwina’s. He then started to pull away virtually without delay.

Rea’s strong race came to a premature end, with the Ulsterman crashing coming out of the fiddly Bus Stop chicane, after a mistake at the hairpin. This put Lavilla into a podium position, but by now the leading runners were fairly well spread out. Kiyonari’s three second lead was cut by half as he negotiated backmarkers, but it wasn’t enough to let Haslam challenge as they went into the final lap. Kiyo took his second win of the season, with the podium to be shared by the Airwaves Ducati men.

Fourth went to Byrne, with Laverty securing a clear fifth from team-mate Rutter. Harris had fought back through for seventh at the flag, from the Hawk Kawasakis of Thomas and Coxhell, then came Wilson, Mason, Tommy Hill, Chris Martin, Peter Hickman and Gareth Glynn. McConnell and Smart were out of luck after an incident at Edwina’s, with the 19-year-old out on the spot, and Scott only able to limp back to the pits.

Race two went ahead without the earlier first lap incidents, and this time the Ducati pair made better starts, for Haslam and Lavilla to slot in behind leader Kiyonari. Rutter, Byrne and Rea were next, but with Harris passing the latter at Edwina’s. Then came Laverty, Thomas, Hill, Mason and Smart. Laverty was soon to pass compatriot Rea, whilst Lavilla’s likely challenge to Kiyonari was on the cards after the Spaniard overtook Haslam at Edwina’s.

As the first four moved into a race of their own, Harris looked to relegate fifth man Byrne to try and join in. An attack at the hairpin might have worked, but Karl took himself out wide to lose it again - but not for long. Laverty was in touch at this stage, but Rea and the rest were falling away.

The Ducati machine rolled on when Lavilla repeated his earlier move at Charlie’s to assume the lead from Kiyonari. Moments later, Haslam followed suit at Edwina’s. The leading trio stayed in close formation at this stage, with Rutter gamely hanging on, and even closing up after they had looked to be getting away. There was of course no need for team orders at this stage of the series, and sure enough Leon tried an attack on Lavilla at the hairpin, but without success.

But the picture changed when Haslam seemed to out-brake himself at Charlie’s, running wide and letting Kiyo through. Leon said later that he’d selected neutral. Lavilla found a breathing space as a result, but before long both Kiyo and Haslam had closed in again. Meanwhile, Rutter had fallen into range for Harris and Byrne, and the HM Plant rider moved into fourth on the inside into Gerard’s.

The race continued up front, getting even more interesting as they came up on battling groups of tail-enders. Kiyonari made a play for the double win at the hairpin, moving to the outside of Lavilla. Running wide meant that he actually lost the place to Haslam. And once they’d got through the backmarkers, some of whom were less than helpful as they looked out for their own prospects, the first three had been spread out. Lavilla, Haslam and Kiyonari finished in that order.

Byrne had followed fourth man Harris past Rutter by the flag, and these three were still close as they crossed the line. Laverty took a clear seventh, with Rea, Thomas, Richards, Hill, McConnell, Mason, Coxhell and Kirkham rounding out the points scorers.

On the day, Gregorio Lavilla and Ryuichi Kiyonari had each scored 41 points, with Leon Haslam taking 40. The upshot was that the important leaderboard positions were barely affected, although this trio had moved further clear of the remainder. Shane Byrne, Michael Rutter and Michael Laverty had all scored dependably, but both Karl Harris and Jonathan Rea had lost ground after first race misdemeanours. Rea in particular had looked on course for a first podium result, but will no doubt threaten again as the season unfolds.

Standings after ten races: Lavilla 223; Haslam 161; Kiyonari 149; Harris 110; Byrne 105; Rea 83; Rutter 81; Laverty 72; Hill 61; Thomas 59; Smart 50; Richards 46; Mason 37; Wilson 33.

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