Tarran Mackenzie may not have been able to reduce the deficit to teammate Jason O’Halloran in the British Superbike title fight over the Silverstone weekend but first and second in Sunday’s races were two of his most heroic rides.

When the McAMS Yamaha star crashed and took out O’Halloran as well in Saturday’s race, he probably wanted the ground to swallow him up and the pain was worsened when a broken metacarpal in his hand was diagnosed.

Initially ruled out of the races, just like he had been at Cadwell Park at round six, he was able to pass a medical on Sunday morning and after topping the morning warm-up session, he never looked back. Winning the first race – his fifth victory of the season – and taking a close second in the other to go into the Showdown thirty points adrift.

“When I was sat in the medical centre on Saturday, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to ride on Sunday,” he admitted afterwards. “Having my hand in a cast overnight seemed to really help and after getting some physio in the morning, I was re-assessed and passed fit for the warm-up.

“I gritted my teeth and ended up fastest which gave me a lot of confidence and I got into a nice rhythm in the first race. I picked them off one by one, although I had a bit of a moment when Christian Iddon went off track and hit one of the trackside boards, with a piece of polystyrene hitting me in the visor.

“As the race went on, I could see Josh (Brookes) was struggling a bit with his tyres so made my move. I didn’t even realise it was the last lap but after making a mistake and crashing on Saturday, it was nice to make amends.

“The second race was similar as I again got into a nice rhythm and I was really happy with the way I rode,” he continued. “Each time Jason went forward, I tried to go with him but I ran wide one lap and had to peg him back again.

“I passed him on the last lap but he got back past and I didn’t quite have enough. I’m pleased to get first and second though and am looking forward now to Oulton Park.”