Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes took the first MCE British Superbike race win from title rival Shane Byrne by the tiniest of margins after the Derby rider made a move at Ramshoek on the last lap and held off the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki man for his fifth win in succession and also clocked a new lap record of 1’37.277.

Lowes led from lap one, only for Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison to make a move at De Strubben to go into the front. But it was not the race that Ellison would have wanted. The Kendal rider’s luck was not to last as he experienced a technical problem at the Geert Timmer chicane and came to an abrupt halt on lap 13. With Ellison stopping in the gravel it paved the way for Byrne to go into the lead.

Byrne was leading from Lowes until the penultimate lap, only for the Lincolnshire rider to make a move at Ramshoek. As the two crossed the line to start the last lap the lead changed between the two riders many times, but it was the 23-year-old’s move at Ramshoek that stuck and he crossed the finishing line one tenths of a second from the reigning champ. But Byrne still leads the Championship by a single point.

Tommy Bridewell was the only Milwaukee bike out on the circuit after the retirement from Ellison and it proved to be a lonely race for the Wiltshire rider. He crossed the finishing line seven seconds behind the leading duo. But in the early part of the race he had to contend with Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes and Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s replacement rider, Noriyuki Haga. But on lap three Bridewell made a move to go into fourth, but was elevated up to third after new team-mate Ellison stopped with a bike issue.

Title fighter Brookes was caught in a battle with Haga for fourth, but the Aussie was able to outpace the World Superbike veteran, with Padgett’s Jakub Smrz finishing just ahead of Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen in sixth. The American had a strong race and pushed his way from eighteenth to seventh, and was about to make a move on Smrz as they crossed the finishing line, but the Czech Republic rider was too fast.

Buildbase BMW’s title fighter contender James Westmoreland got the better of team-mate Jon Kirkham to finish in eighth, with Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Barry Burrell rounding off the top ten. GBmoto’s Dan Linfoot had a technical problem and came to a halt on lap five at Duikersloot. But he was not the only rider to have bike issues, Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Chris Walker retired to the pits on his sixth lap.

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