THE Bournemouth-based JG Speedfit Kawasaki team are celebrating after Leon Haslam maintained his place at the top of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship leaderboard after taking first and second place finishes at Knockhill.

The results gave the Derbyshire ace a 74-point lead in the championship while team-mate Luke Mossey also grabbed two points-scoring finishes.

Having shown good pace during free practice and qualifying, both riders went into the opening race around the 1.2-mile circuit in a confident mood with Haslam lining up on the front row and in third place with Mossey slightly further back in 13th.

During the opening 30-lap race, Haslam grabbed the lead on the opening lap and looked well set to take his sixth consecutive race victory as he led all the way up until lap 25.

However, a slight engine issue caused him to run wide at the hairpin which allowed Jake Dixon to take over the lead and with the same issue occurring a lap later, Danny Buchan pushed him back to third, which was where he finished.

After the race though, race direction reviewed the result and with Buchan deemed to have overtaken Haslam under a yellow flag, the result was reversed putting Haslam back into the runners-up spot.

Mossey, meanwhile, took the chequered flag in 12th place and claimed four hard-earned championship points as he continued to build his speed back up after sustaining a number of broken ribs at the previous round at Snetterton.

Haslam started the second race from sixth place and the second row of the grid but he steadily made progress and by lap eight he was up into third place.

Just after half-race distance this became second and when race-leader Dixon had a moment with five laps to go, Haslam needed no second invitation and moved into the lead. He duly held on to take his 37th BSB win and extend his lead at the top of the table.

Mossey moved up to ninth and the third row but he had to settle for 13th place at the chequered flag to score three more points. He now sits in 17th overall in the championship table.