Returning from a two-round ban, Josh Brookes let his riding do the talking at Croft when he raced from fourth on the grid to two third places, beating temporary HM Plant Honda team-mate and former double champion Ryuichi Kiyonari in the process.

"It's been great to be back on the HM Plant Honda Fireblade and racing again. The bike's felt good all weekend and we've made a few tweaks here and there, but nothing major,” said the Australian.

Brookes ran second early in race one, before being pushed back to third and then fourth. But the Australian remained right on the tail of Simon Andrews and was handed a podium finish when the Kawasaki rider crashed.

“In race one I felt I had the pace to be able to race and hang in there, but not really push my way up the pack,” Brookes reflected.

In race two Brookes took the lead at turn one, before losing out to race one winner Stuart Easton and then title leader and eventual race two winner Leon Camier. Brookes then spent the closing stages fending off Camier's Airwaves Yamaha team-mate James Ellison.

“We changed the front suspension setting for race two and that gave me more feel,” Brookes explained. “Overall I'm very pleased to come away with two podium finishes and move up into fifth in the championship standings."

Kiyonari finished less than a second behind Brookes in race one, but was only 18th in race two.