Relentless Suzuki’s Alastair Seeley powered in his eighth victory of a hard fought campaign, moving within 11 points of series leading Ben Wilson, who crashed out of contention on the final lap at Stowe corner as he battled vainly to regain the lead.

The two riders had been involved in a titanic struggle for supremacy throughout the race, trading places routinely as they ran little more than a tenth of a second apart but it was Seeley who had the edge going into the final lap, running his Relentless Suzuki just ahead.

Wilson who has already ridden at the full wanting race wins was in no mood to settle for second and reeled in Seeley but then going into Stowe for the final time the Gearlink Kawasaki rider attempted what would have been a brave overtaking move around the outside.

But, it was a move too far, with Wilson tumbling out of contention and leaving Seeley to go through and take a victory that has left the title chase wide open with four races remaining.

Seeley said afterwards: “It was a case of Ben coming across on the brakes. I could have clipped the back of him or rolled the brakes for longer which is what I did. I thought we would both get away with it. This race has turned things around in my favour. These things happen in races – we were both making big lunges and protecting our lines.”

For the record, Wilson grabbed the early lead, heading the pack after the opening lap, but next time around Seeley had the advantage, just, but a couple of laps further on and Wilson was leading, but not for long. Seeley moved back ahead, and the duel intensified with swapping of places, ahead of that final lap incident.

Race officials investigated the tangle but took no action, with the victory for Seeley confirmed.

Luke Mossey, who had run third on his Smiths Gloucester Triumph throughout, moved second with the demise of Wilson. Sam Warren took the final step of the podium for the Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton team.

Christian Iddon who had carved through from seventh place on the opening lap to be fourth just ahead of his Oxford TAG Triumph team-mates Paul Young and Billy McConnell.

John Simpson moved closer to the Supersport Cup with another victory this time ahead of Paul Curran and Matthew Hoyle.

Results:

1 34 Alastair SEELEY Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS 9 19:49.381 99.90 2:11.514 5

2 12 Luke MOSSEY Triumph - Smiths (Gloucester) Racing 9 19:49.958 0.577 0.577 99.85 2:11.511 3

3 70 Sam WARREN Yamaha - Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton 9 19:51.476 2.095 1.518 99.72 2:11.352 9

4 21 Christian IDDON Triumph - Oxford TAG Triumph 9 19:52.652 3.271 1.176 99.62 2:11.632 8

5 96 Paul YOUNG Triumph - Oxford TAG Triumph 9 19:52.833 3.452 0.181 99.61 2:11.273 6

6 75 Billy McCONNELL Triumph - Oxford TAG Triumph 9 19:55.824 6.443 2.991 99.36 2:12.135 5

7 4 Jack KENNEDY Yamaha - Colin Appleyard / Macadam Racing 9 19:55.842 6.461 0.018 99.36 2:11.406 6

8 51 Matthew WHITMAN Triumph - Smiths (Gloucester) Racing 9 19:55.974 6.593 0.132 99.35 2:11.567 6

9 39 Allann Jon VENTER Triumph - MAP Triumph 9 20:01.310 11.929 5.336 98.91 2:12.409 4

10 2 Josh DAY Triumph - Smiths (Gloucester) Racing 9 20:01.533 12.152 0.223 98.89 2:12.361 5

11 8 Luke STAPLEFORD Kawasaki - Profile Bournemouth Kawasaki 9 20:01.625 12.244 0.092 98.88 2:12.778 6

12 77 Marty NUTT honda - www.padgettsmotorcycles.com 9 20:01.828 12.447 0.203 98.86 2:12.325 5

13 95 Jimmy HILL Triumph - MAP Triumph 9 20:02.014 12.633 0.186 98.85 2:12.269 4

14 11 C John SIMPSON Triumph - T3 Racing 9 20:05.545 16.164 3.531 98.56 2:12.183 3

15 10 Jenny TINMOUTH Honda - Manx Glass and Glazing 9 20:17.267 27.886 11.722 97.61 2:13.886 3

16 89 David JONES Kawasaki - Gearlink Kawasaki 9 20:20.080 30.699 2.813 97.38 2:14.101 4

17 47 C Paul CURRAN Triumph - IDAQ.com 9 20:27.943 38.562 7.863 96.76 2:14.733 6

18 66 James WEBB Kawasaki - Dynamic 360 Group / Mackrory Racing 9 20:28.524 39.143 0.581 96.71 2:15.284 8

19 32 C Matthew HOYLE Kawasaki - MWR / Gearlink Kawasaki 9 20:28.591 39.210 0.067 96.71 2:15.370 7

20 17 Jess TRAYLER Suzuki - Aye Gee Suzuki Racing 9 20:28.698 39.317 0.107 96.70 2:15.043 9

21 94 C Sam HORNSEY Suzuki - Hornsey Steels Racing 9 20:29.491 40.110 0.793 96.64 2:15.316 7

22 6 C William DUNLOP Honda - Wilson Craig 9 20:29.767 40.386 0.276 96.62 2:15.430 3

23 93 C Jamie PERRIN Kawasaki - Grant Racing @ Comp Log 9 20:30.114 40.733 0.347 96.59 2:15.125 3

24 27 C Dan STEWART Honda - Wilcock Consulting 9 20:30.914 41.533 0.800 96.53 2:15.522 8

25 69 C Daniel MILES Triumph - Trickbits Racing/FBM performance 9 20:50.913 1:01.532 19.999 94.98 2:15.689 2

26 88 C Ed SMITH Kawasaki - Ultim8 Racing 9 20:52.261 1:02.880 1.348 94.88 2:17.936 7

27 41 C Shaun WINFIELD Triumph - Oxford TAG Triumph 9 21:55.570 2:06.189 1:03.309 90.31 2:25.198 6

NOT CLASSIFIED

DNF 15 Ben WILSON Kawasaki - Gearlink Kawasaki 8 17:37.734 1 lap 1 lap 99.85 2:11.683 3

DNF 65 C David PATON Yamaha - Double 'M' Racing 4 9:06.463 5 laps 4 laps 96.63 2:14.243 4

DNF5 Gary JOHNSON Honda - Lincs Lifting Limited 2 4:30.566 7 laps 2 laps 97.59 2:12.631 2

DNF 14 Josh CAYGILL Triumph - MAP Triumph 2 4:52.447 7 laps 21.881 90.28

DNF 3 C Anthony ROGERS Yamaha - ANR TSS Racing 1 3:24.352 8 laps 1 lap 64.60