Last year Yukio Kagayama left Cadwell Park a broken man. Literally. A huge crash at the foot of The Mountain left the popular Japanese rider with life threatening injuries and his departure in an ambulance was, we suspected, the last we'd see of him.

This year has proven our fears to be totally unfounded as Yukio has come back like a cartoon character - run him down, break him in two, whatever you like. He just gets up as good as new. Maybe even better. And where better to prove it than at Cadwell Park, almost exactly a year after the accident that nearly killed him?

Conditions for the weekend were less than ideal from the outset. Cadwell is notorious for dodgy weather and this weekend was no exception. Spells of rain meant that the track was never properly dry - not a great deal of fun on a 200bhp superbike - so qualifying was somewhat hit and miss. But all credit to Kawasaki mounted Scott Smart on pole and to Honda pilot Michael Rutter in second place. And even more to privateer Tommy Hill in third ahead of championship leader John Reynolds.

So on to the race, then. Michael Rutter made the early running with a surprise second place showing by team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari. Smart started well but soon dropped back into the clutches of both Reynolds and Kagayama before retiring when his chain jumped the sprockets coming off The Mountain. Then JR made un uncharacteristic mistake and crashed hard at the fast entry to Charlie's. Unhurt but well and truly out of the race, Reynolds could only watch helplessly as his arch rival romped home to take 25 points out of his previously unassailable lead. Rutter, though, didn't have it all his own way as both Kiyonari and Kagayama were pushing him extremely hard. In fact by his own admission it was probably the fact that a nasty crash in Hall Bends saw the race stopped early while medical crews attended to Steve Plater which allowed him to take the win over his team mate. So race one and Yukio Kagayama was on the podium.

Race two and the conditions were even worse. Wet but drying. Or were they? Some riders went for slicks, some for intermediates and some for full wets. Rutter and Kiyonari anticipated the rains to come and plumped for full wets. This was a mistake. With the Honda pair floundering on overheating tyres as the track dried out, Kagayama was virtually unchallenged as he pulled out a huge lead over second place Scott Smart to make his victory over the circuit even more emphatic. Reynolds, both physically and emotionally bruised after his earlier getoff rode a solid but uninspired race to finish eighth and gather some much needed points while Rutter pitted in to change his tyres before retiring a few laps later.

Yukio's celebration burnout was made even more satisfying by his positioning. Right on the spot where he crashed so hard last year.

So with just 2 rounds left to go the championship is still fairly open. JR has a 33 point lead but as we saw today it only needs one error by either rider to change everything. Still looking good...

Race 1

1 M Rutter, Honda
2 R Kiyonari, Honda
3 Y Kagayama, Suzuki
4 J Haydon, Yamaha
5 T Hill, Yamaha
6 D Thomas, Ducati
7 G Richards, Kawasaki
8 K Clarke, Yamaha
9 J McGuinness, Kawasaki
10 S Emmett, Ducati

Race 2

1 Y Kagayama, Suzuki
2 S Smart, Kawasaki
3 S Emmett, Ducati
4 D Thomas, Ducati
5 G Richards, Kawasaki
6 J Haydon, Yamaha
7 K Clarke, Yamaha
8 J Reynolds, Suzuki
9 J McGuinness, Kawasaki
10 J Ellison, Yamaha

Championship standing after 9 rounds

370 J Reynolds
337 M Rutter
296 S Smart
290 Y Kagayama
262 S Emmett
170 R Kiyonari
155 J Haydon
155 D Thomas
116 T Hill
100 G Mason