Samsung Suzuki's John Hopkins had to take a tyre gamble in the first British Superbike race at Croft yesterday, running Pirelli's iintermediates on which he had never ridden before.

The choice served him well, however, as he managed to bag a podium behind team-mate Jon Kirkham and was only foiled by the safety car appearing on track when Shane Byrne's HM Plant Honda experienced an electrical problem.

"I've got to be happy with today. It started well when I went fastest in warm-up. In race one I chose to run tyres I'd never run before - the Pirelli intermediates - and they proved great and I found a lot of confidence in them. I got up to the pointy-end and we'd built up a good lead only for the safety car to come out," said Hopkins.

"As a racer I wasn't too happy to be passed after that, but seeing as it was my team-mate JK then on a personal level that was awesome; he really deserved that race. I didn't have the grip to pass him back so by the end I was riding for the points.

"Race two didn't work out so well. I was struggling for rear wheel grip, so I did what I could and was happy to come away with another podium. Importantly I've come away with second place in the points table, just three points off the lead, with a stack more podium points - I'm joint-leading the table there. So for me, a very good day."