Rapid Ducati's Martin Jessopp says he took some big setup gambles in between races at the Donington Park British Superbike meeting but they padi off as he was able to elbow aside Josh Brookes in the second outing to bag a season-best fourth.

In the absense of injured team-mate Michael Rutter, Jessopp had the full attention of both sides of the garage and, after some tweaks following an 11th in the opener, Jessopp came out breathing fire.

“I am mega happy with how the weekend turned out for the Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati team. It didn’t come as a massive surprise as I knew that the bike would work well on that track and that the improvements we have been making would put us in a good position," said the West Country man.

"I knew if we could get away at the front then we could mix it with the Title Fighters. It took us time in free practice to get to where we needed to be and I qualified eleventh but at that point I was reasonably happy with that. We worked hard with K-Tech and took some big gambles after finishing ninth in race one and it worked!

"In the second one I made a decent start and was up there and having a good battle with Josh Brookes. Unfortunately that let Jon Kirkham get a gap but it was the best result we have had and the closest I have been to a podium finish.”