Championship leader Leon Haslam says the joy of winning made the pain of yesterday’s injuries vanish this afternoon and has revealed withdrawing from the weekend was never an option as long as podium credits were up for grabs.

The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider suffered a massive off at the Northants track on Friday morning, and having already bagged himself a spot in the Showdown, could’ve easily sat out of the weekend to get fully fit for next weekend.

But after taking the win by 0.171secs over Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin after a late charge, he admitted that the lure of more podium credits spurred him on – even if he was in some pain.

“Obviously winning a race makes my injuries seem not as bad,” he told Bikesport News. “It’s always nice when you’ve won but I am stiff. It was a big impact and I’ve got to have my ankle checked out after this weekend.

“I’ve had ligament issues from my Brands crash in that foot and I’ve re-tweaked the ligaments I believe so I’ve got to have an MRI scan to see if there’s anything they can do, not so much for this year but for next year to make it right.

“Everything else is just stiffening up from a big impact crash. I’ll have hot bath tonight, a bit more physio and hopefully another two good races tomorrow because there are 10 more points up for grabs.

“We really extended the podium credits there, one of my rivals wasn’t on the podium and I think we’ve taken our lead from 31 to 36. I’d like to extend that to in theory a possible 46 if they don’t finish on the podium tomorrow.

“Pulling out was never an option. These points are quite valuable, especially going into Brands Hatch the final round. Those two or three points can make all the difference so I want more race wins tomorrow.

“I don’t want to break the cycle so far. It’s going really well so we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing. That’s the plan.”