Swan Yamaha's Tommy Hill strengthened his grip at the top of the MCE British Superbike points table this afternoon, running away with the first race after front-runners Michael Laverty and Ian Lowry went down in separate incidents, giving the Surrey man the space he needed.

Hill was away with it off the line into an early leads with Laverty, Josh Brookes, Lowry and Shane Byrne in tow. As the laps unfolded, Byrne moved into third place with past Brookes but then, at Brittens, Laverty lost his Samsung Honda which forced Byrne and Brookes to take evasive actin and Hill took advantage, dropping into the 1'36s laptims and pull away.

The incident allowed Alex Lowes to close up to the back of the group, which also included Noriyuki Haga. The WFR Honda man passed Haga on lap five but then slid off at Brittens while Alastair Seeley retired out of sixth place with a seized rear brake caliper on lap nine. Samsung Honda's Jon Kirkham also retired on the same lap which meant no works Fireblades on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, Brookes and Byrne pulled gap over Haga and the Australian set about trying to put a move on the two-time champion. Despite having rear tyre problems, Byrne kept the Bringelly man behind him until the last turn. The Tyco Suzuki rider got great drive out of Druids and just snuck up the inside at Lodge, crossing the line with less than a tenth to spare.

Haga settled for a lonely fourth ahead of a spirited ride from James Westmoreland on the second WFR Honda. Tommy Bridewell came from mid-grid to put the Supersonic BMW in sixth and leapfrog Lowry for fifth in the points table. Peter Hickman finished a creditable eighth behind Chris Walker in only his second ride on the Buildbase BMW.

Graeme Gowland ended in ninth with Barry Burrell tenth. Patric Muff, Luke Quigley, Scott Smart, Michael Rutter and Mark Aitchison rounded out the top 15. Stuart Easton's stand-in rider Keith Farmer crashed out on lap five while Gary Mason had to retire the Primo Kawasaki.

Grid for race two

Lowes (pole), Hill, Haga, Byrne

Brookes, Seeley, M Laverty, Lowry

Championship points

Tommy Hill 184

Josh Brookes 170

Shane Byrne 169

Michael Laverty 122

Tommy Bridewell 87

Ian Lowry 79

MCE British Superbike race one - conditions dry

11 Tommy HILL GBR Yamaha - Swan Yamaha 16 25:57.830 99.53 1:36.489 7

22 Josh BROOKES AUS Suzuki - Tyco Suzuki 16 26:02.338 4.508 4.508 99.24 1:36.700 5

3 67 Shane BYRNE GBR Kawasaki - Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki 16 26:02.425 4.595 0.087 99.24 1:36.678 3

4 41 Noriyuki HAGA JPN Yamaha - Swan Yamaha 16 26:08.169 10.339 5.744 98.88 1:36.651 3

5 27 James WESTMORELAND GBR Honda - Team WFR 16 26:13.576 15.746 5.407 98.54 1:37.213 3

6 46 Tommy BRIDEWELL GBR BMW - Supersonic Racing Team 16 26:14.086 16.256 0.510 98.50 1:37.409 13

7 9 Chris WALKER GBR Kawasaki - Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing 16 26:14.633 16.803 0.547 98.47 1:37.554 3

8 60 Peter HICKMAN GBR BMW - Buildbase BMW Motorrad 16 26:14.900 17.070 0.267 98.45 1:37.868 6

9 81 Graeme GOWLAND GBR Honda - Team WFR 16 26:15.219 17.389 0.319 98.43 1:37.328 6

10 77 Barry BURRELL GBR BMW - Buildbase BMW Motorrad 16 26:27.930 30.100 12.711 97.64 1:38.149 6

11 24 Patric MUFF SUI BMW - Supersonic Racing Team 16 26:28.242 30.412 0.312 97.63 1:38.018 3

12 51 Luke QUIGLEY GBR Honda - GBmoto Racing 16 26:28.388 30.558 0.146 97.62 1:38.076 3

13 88 Scott SMART GBR Ducati - Moto Rapido Racing 16 26:28.460 30.630 0.072 97.61 1:37.986 4

14 4 Michael RUTTER GBR Kawasaki - MSS Bathams Kawasaki 16 26:31.562 33.732 3.102 97.42 1:37.800 4

15 18 Mark AITCHISON AUS Kawasaki - Quattro Plant Kawasaki Superbike Team 16 26:39.684 41.854 8.122 96.93 1:38.660 4

16 78 Freddy FORAY FRA Kawasaki - Quattro Plant Kawasaki Superbike Team 16 26:59.292 1:01.462 19.608 95.75 1:39.944 15

17 21 Florian MARINO FRA Aprilia - Splitlath Redmond 16 27:04.588 1:06.758 5.296 95.44 1:40.507 9

18 64 Aaron ZANOTTI GBR Suzuki - A-Plant Suzuki 16 27:04.694 1:06.864 0.106 95.44 1:40.447 6

19 20 Tom TUNSTALL GBR Honda - Doodson Motorsport 16 27:08.065 1:10.235 3.371 95.24 1:40.422 15

20 8 Jenny TINMOUTH GBR Honda - Hardinge Sorrymate.com Honda 16 27:38.629 1:40.799 30.564 93.48 1:41.910 3

21 36 Abdulaziz BINLADIN KSA Ducati - Moto Rapido Racing 15 26:16.735 1 lap 1 lap 92.19 1:42.745 2

NOT CLASSIFIED

DNF 25 David ANTHONY AUS Honda - Doodson Motorsport 12 20:41.692 4 laps 3 laps 93.65 1:40.728 2

DNF 33 Tristan PALMER GBR Honda - GBmoto Racing 9 14:51.599 7 laps 3 laps 97.82 1:37.637 3

DNF 34 Alastair SEELEY GBR Suzuki - Tyco Suzuki 9 14:52.307 7 laps 0.708 97.74 1:36.760 6

DNF 10 Jon KIRKHAM GBR Honda - Samsung Honda 9 15:01.878 7 laps 9.571 96.71 1:37.881 3

DNF 22 Alex LOWES GBR Honda - Team WFR 8 13:02.127 8 laps 1 lap 99.12 1:36.481 3

DNF 101 Gary MASON GBR Kawasaki - Primo1 Bournemouth Kawaski Racing 7 12:17.203 9 laps 1 lap 92.02 1:38.355 3

DNF 14 John LAVERTY GBR Aprilia - Splitlath Redmond 5 8:46.251 11 laps 2 laps 92.07 1:41.358 2

DNF 99 Luca SCASSA ITA Honda - Padgetts Honda 4 6:40.745 12 laps 1 lap 96.73 1:38.045 2

DNF 7 Michael LAVERTY GBR Honda - Samsung Honda 3 4:54.767 13 laps 1 lap 98.63 1:36.797 3

DNF5 Ian LOWRY GBR Honda - Padgetts Honda 3 4:56.326 13 laps 1.559 98.11 1:36.802 2

DNF 303 Keith FARMER GBR Kawasaki - Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki 3 5:01.436 13 laps 5.110 96.45 1:38.011 2