Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki scored a podium finish in the second MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race of the weekend, but it was Jon Kirkham who finished in second place as John Hopkins suffered a technical problem and had to fight back.

Kirkham was running third but as Brookes crashed out he was promoted to second and then had his sights set on closing down race leader Shane 'Shakey' Byrne. Kirkham narrowed the advantage but it wasn't enough to secure the penultimate win of the season and he secured his third podium finish.

Kirkham said: "It feels great to be back on the podium and I didn't know who was behind me. I wasn't sure where Hopper was and all I did was ride my own race and try and catch Shakey for the win. I was a bit cautious over the opening laps as I didn't want to hit any of the wet patches and it feels great to have put the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki back on the podium. This season I really have beaten my expectations so we will see if we can do the same in the final race of the year."

Hopkins meanwhile had his championship leader dramatically cut as he suffered a problem on the opening lap and after restarting the bike, he had to recover from last. The American moved up the order to finish twelfth as he now holds a two point advantage ahead of the title-deciding final race.

Hopkins said: "I don't really know what happened but the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki just shut off and I have no idea why. I stopped and reset the engine to try and get it going again and we got going again and got the best we could out of the race."