Samsung Crescent Suzuki's Jon Kirkham had his strongest weekend at Cadwell Park in the MCE British Superbike Championship picking up a total of 33 points as his teammate John Hopkins was still absent due to injury.

The Derby rider regularly ran in the top ten over the weekend to qualify seventh overall after making it through all three stages before picking up a fourth followed by two sixth places. Even though he currently sits seventh in the championship meaning he has missed out of being part of the top six title showdown there was still a lot of positives to take away from the weekend.

Kirkham said: “I'm very happy after this weekend. Working with the two crew chiefs – Dale and Lez – meant we could really push hard on set-up, it seemed everything we did this weekend just made our Samsung Crescent Racing bike better and better.

"The first race today didn't go according to plan, though. I got a bad start and got stuck behind another rider for too long, when I did get by it was too late, the leaders had gone. But in the second race I was with the leaders from the start and I stayed with them. But for a couple of mistakes on the last lap I would have been just two-seconds behind at the finish.

"I'm incredibly energised by this weekend, it's great to back on a footing with the best in the championship and I can't wait for the next round at Donington Park, which is as good as my local track. I think we can look to challenge for top-five finishes again."