Samsung Suzuki's John Hopkins is not worried about the amount of pressure he will he under going into this weekend's Brands Hatch British Superbike finale, saying he has dealt with it many times before and it will not make a difference.

The American, who is still riding with a badly-mangled finger, has an eight-point lead over Tommy Hill with 75 on the table this weekend. Both riders have team-mates more than capable of riding shotgun, although Michael Laverty still has a mathematical chance of winning the title.

"I'm really keen to get started into the weekend. The points gap that I have is a great advantage but not really a comfort, the strategy still has to be 'race to win', anything less and we won't have the championship. But I'm confident we can do just that. The Samsung Crescent race bike has a great set-up, I love riding it, and with the data we took from our previous visit to the GP circuit – together with the track knowledge I gained – it puts us in a strong position coming in," said Hopkins.

"My injured finger gets stronger each day and I don't expect it to be a problem. Again I'll have to manage it – and with three races there'll be a lot of work to do – but I think we proved at Donington Park and Silverstone that it's not affecting my racing. There's mental pressure as well, but it's nothing new to me, nothing I can't deal with. The job stays the same: go for the holeshot, take the lead and stay out of trouble. Get the win. It's racing. I love it!"