Michael Rutter and the North West 200 Ducati team took a spectacular victory at Mallory Park, with a gamble on tyres being rewarded with his first win since 2005.

Rutter said: "That race was just a dream after we had such a nightmare in the first race. My number one bike had a problem in warm up and then the second had a problem on the grid and I had to start from 27th. If that was not bad enough I then crashed out and banged my hand quite hard. But then it is up and down in racing and things can change so quickly, this is just so good for me and all at the North West 200 Ducati team."

The changeable weather was paying havoc with the teams' strategy and despite the race being declared wet the track quickly dried during the race. Michael Laverty had been the leading rider off the grid onboard the Relentless Suzuki by TAS but his bad luck today continued when he crashed out at Charlies on lap four.

This left Michael Rutter to pick up the lead and despite still suffering with a suspected broken knuckle from his crash in the earlier race, he was able to control the race skilfully from the front.

The tyre choices had completely mixed the grid in the opening laps with Billy McConnell running third ahead of Simon Andrews and Aaron Zanotti also at the fore. Whilst further down the field Cal Crutchlow was struggling on slick tyres in 12th ahead of Karl Harris with Leon Camier in 18th on the Airwaves Ducati.

Leon Haslam was running second early in the race, with Rutter enjoying a comfortable lead over the second place rider but Andrews was eager to make a move on the HM Plant Honda star. On lap 19 Andrews put a tough move on Haslam who was then forced wide, with both riders then passed by Shane 'Shakey' Byrne and Cal Crutchlow who were taking advantage of the drying track.

The drying track saw a battle against time with Crutchlow trying to close the gap on Byrne who similarly was hoping to close on Rutter. The HM Plant Honda rider had the advantage though, with slick front and rear against Byrne's combination of intermediate and slick. As the laps closed down Crutchlow was trailing Byrne and on the penultimate lap he made his move, diving down the inside line at the Hairpin but he was not able to hold the position and went wide allowing Byrne back past.

Crutchlow said: "That race was hard work but I really enjoyed it. It was just unfortunate I couldn't get past Shakey. When I did put a move on him at the Hairpin I hit a wet patch and it locked the brakes. It was better then to go wide than take each other out. Michael rode like a legend today and I am really pleased for him."

Rizla Suzuki's Tom Sykes was able to close down and pass Haslam and Andrews in the latter part of the race, but he was closely followed by Rob Mac Racing's Karl Harris who had got over the disappointment of race one with a strong second race.

Camier was back on track following his race one crash and despite struggling in the early stages he was able to move in to eighth by the chequered flag.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Mallory Park, race two result:

1. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati)
2. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +4.405s
3. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +4.586s
4. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +13.383s
5. Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha) +13.589s
6. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +19.517s
7. Simon Andrews (Lloyds British Jentin Racing Yamaha) +25.928s
8. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +35.007s
9. Tristan Palmer (TENA for Men Honda) +44.194s
10. Scott Smart (Hawk Kawasaki) +56.422s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:

1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 280
2. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) 183
3. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) 160
4 Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) 148
5. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) 127