It was a jubilant and victorious Pirelli National Superstock return for Buildbase Suzuki’s Richard Cooper at Brands Hatch.

Returning to action at the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship after 18 months away due to serious injury, 2019 Superstock Champion Cooper immediately qualified on the front row before narrowly finishing second in a red-flagged race one. The 39-year-old - who had already secured podium finishes in the International North West 200 this season - then went one better in race two, taking victory after a last lap move into Graham Hill bend.

“It was a pretty awesome weekend,” Cooper acknowledged. “We were under the lap record in qualifying – which is still my lap record on the Suzuki from 2017 – and we were in the fight for the podium and in with a shout of the win in race one before the red flags.

“To be honest I was just happy to be back on the podium after a couple of years away from the British championship.

“Our lap time in the race wasn’t good enough though and we started race two from seventh. It was the hottest it’d been all weekend so I had to manage the situation. I got into a rhythm and then started picking them off one every couple of laps into Graham Hill until I was in second.

“From there I let the laps tick down and then passed [David] Allingham on the penultimate lap but he was able to draft me and pass me into Paddock Hill on the final lap so I had to make the move again and held him off to take the win. It was a great weekend and thanks to the team for having me back.”