Swan Yamaha's Michael Laverty has taken the first British Superbike race win at Brands Hatch today ahead of Josh Brookes Relentless Suzuki but John Hopkins increased his championship lead over Tommy by finishing in third one place ahead of Lingfield man.

In a race that Laverty and Brookes clear off at half a second per lap, the battle for the championship lead between Hopkins and Hill went right to the wire with Sorrymate.com Honda's James Ellison also in the mix but he seemed reluctant to put a pass on the title rivals.

Brookes and Laverty led off the line and immeditaly put a gap on the field. Hopkins and Hill were in the fight for the last podium place all race long with Ellison taking his team's best result of the year so far in fifth.

Hill was looking for a way past Hopkins right to the death and stuck his YZF-R1 under the American into the last corner but ran wide and allowed the American to cut back and occupy the last podium place, increasing his lead to 11 points with 50 left.

HM Plant Honda's Shane Byrne rallied from 19th on the grid after crashing in qualifying to finish in sixth, passing Michael Rutter and Jon Kirkham while Graeme Gowland was the first Evo man home in ninth. Martin Jessopp rounded out the top ten.

MCE British Superbike race one - conditions dry

1 7 Michael LAVERTY GBR Yamaha - Swan Yamaha 16 22:58.539 101.67 1:25.479 2

22 Josh BROOKES AUS Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS 16 22:58.935 0.396 0.396 101.64 1:25.426 5

3 21 John HOPKINS USA Suzuki - Samsung Crescent Racing 16 23:07.305 8.766 8.370 101.02 1:25.692 4

4 33 Tommy HILL GBR Yamaha - Swan Yamaha 16 23:07.412 8.873 0.107 101.02 1:25.844 9

5 16 James ELLISON GBR Honda - Team SorryMate.com 16 23:07.546 9.007 0.134 101.01 1:25.944 8

6 67 Shane BYRNE GBR Honda - HM Plant Honda 16 23:10.220 11.681 2.674 100.81 1:25.656 2

7 6 Michael RUTTER GBR Ducati - Rapid Solicitors Bathams Ducati 16 23:12.291 13.752 2.071 100.66 1:26.050 2

8 10 Jon KIRKHAM GBR Suzuki - Samsung Crescent Racing 16 23:12.462 13.923 0.171 100.65 1:25.894 2

9 81 E Graeme GOWLAND GBR Honda - Team WFR 16 23:16.991 18.452 4.529 100.32 1:26.570 2

10 40 Martin JESSOPP GBR Ducati - Rapid Solicitors Bathams Ducati 16 23:23.302 24.763 6.311 99.87 1:26.654 5

11 46 Tommy BRIDEWELL GBR Yamaha - Motorpoint Yamaha 16 23:24.737 26.198 1.435 99.77 1:27.110 11

12 9 Chris WALKER GBR Kawasaki - Pr1mo Racing 16 23:24.962 26.423 0.225 99.75 1:26.731 9

135 Ian LOWRY GBR Kawasaki - MSS Colchester Kawasaki 16 23:25.750 27.211 0.788 99.70 1:26.923 9

14 27 N James WESTMORELAND GBR Honda - Team WFR 16 23:28.998 30.459 3.248 99.47 1:27.294 5

15 22 Alex LOWES GBR Yamaha - Motorpoint Yamaha 16 23:29.104 30.565 0.106 99.46 1:26.963 9

16 45 E Glen RICHARDS AUS Honda - Team WFR 16 23:33.603 35.064 4.499 99.14 1:27.302 12

171 Ryuichi KIYONARI JPN Honda - HM Plant Honda 16 23:33.650 35.111 0.047 99.14 1:26.641 14

18 77 E Barry BURRELL GBR BMW - Buildbase BMW Motorrad 16 23:37.098 38.559 3.448 98.90 1:27.330 10

19 24 E Patric MUFF SUI Honda - Tyco Honda 16 23:37.183 38.644 0.085 98.89 1:27.792 7

20 66 Steve MERCER GBR Honda - Jentin Racing Honda 16 23:49.433 50.894 12.250 98.05 1:28.143 6

21 100 E Karl HARRIS GBR Aprilia - Splitlath Motorsport 16 23:49.478 50.939 0.045 98.04 1:27.897 7

22 64 E Aaron ZANOTTI GBR BMW - Quattro Plant Laser Tools 16 24:14.461 1:15.922 24.983 96.36 1:28.921 5

23 54 E Steve HENEGHAN IRL Kawasaki - Buy-force.com Quattro Plant 15 23:06.061 1 lap 1 lap 94.79 1:31.452 9

NOT CLASSIFIED

DNF 88 E Scott SMART GBR Ducati - Moto Rapido Ducati 15 22:20.284 1 lap 98.03 1:28.361 7

DNF 25 E David ANTHONY AUS BMW - Doodson Motorsport 14 20:50.640 2 laps 1 lap 98.06 1:28.182 13

DNF 4 Dan LINFOOT GBR Honda - Tyco Honda 10 23:34.464 6 laps 4 laps 61.93 1:27.652 10

DNF 37 E James HILLIER GBR Kawasaki - Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing 9 15:04.473 7 laps 1 lap 87.16 1:28.793 2

DNF 101 Gary MASON GBR Kawasaki - MSS Colchester Kawasaki 7 11:54.297 9 laps 2 laps 85.84 1:27.274 5

DNF 55 E Dan KNEEN GBR Kawasaki - Marks Bloom Racing 6 10:45.277 10 laps 1 lap 81.45 1:30.342 3

DNF 60 Peter HICKMAN GBR Honda - Tyco Honda 3 14:06.251 13 laps 3 laps 31.05 1:28.253 3

FASTEST LAP

2 Josh BROOKES AUS Suzuki - Relentless Suzuki by TAS 5 1:25.426 102.54 mph 165.02 kph

81 E Graeme GOWLAND GBR Honda - Team WFR 2 1:26.570 101.18 mph 162.84 kph

27 N James WESTMORELAND GBR Honda - Team WFR 5 1:27.294 100.34 mph 161.49