Samsung Suzuki's John Hopkins has secured his place in the season-ending British Superbike Showdown with a brace of podiums at Brands Hatch but admitted it hurt to get beaten.

The American, who is already on his way to Brno for this weekend's MotoGP round, did enough to book his place in the final six and now needs only to worry about podium credits and not championship points.

"It all went well. We had a little issue with shifting gear in that first race and so I couldn't ride as hard as I'd like to have, but I was very happy to pick up that last podium credit. In the second race the bike was perfect and everything was great but Tommy Hill rode really well, I couldn't have ridden any harder, it hurts to be beaten but we did what was needed," said Hopkins.

"Importantly I'm now secure in the top six for the Showdown and that's exciting, something I can really look forward to. Going to Cadwell Park I don't need to worry about championship points, and will instead ride for the podium credits – they're most important now.

"Once again the team proved just how good they were this weekend, sorting the shifter issues between races today, the bike was perfect for that last race. We're looking set for a great time at Cadwell Park."