JAMES Ellison admitted he was pleased to get back on the podium as he moved up to third place in the overall standings in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship following the latest round at Brands Hatch.

The 34-year-old from Kendal was making a return to the iconic Kent circuit where he won both races back in April.

The double victory, plus his win at Donington on the opening weekend, catapulted him to the top of the leader board.

But since then the JG Speedfit rider has suffered with mechanical problems and injuries and finished outside the points at Knockhill in round five.

Ellison, still suffering with the broken rib sustained two rounds ago at Snetterton, finished third in race one and fourth in race two in front of more than 55,000 spectators.

Ellison is up to 147 points but the weekend belonged to Josh Brookes who repeated the Cumbrian's feat of a Brands Hatch double to close the gap of overall leader Shane Byrne to just five points.

In the opening race, Ellison was in the leading pack from the start of the race and held off Michael Laverty on the Tyco BMW but he kept his calm to push Richard Cooper in second place all the way to the finish.

Ellison said: "Things were going really smoothly, we pulled a big gap between me and Michael Laverty behind, and then the pace car came out, and once it came back in again, I started to feel a bit more pain from my ribs, a bit more uncomfortable and we weren't making as big a gap on the guys behind as I was before.

"Michael was still kind of chipping away and then the safety car came out again, and the gap got even closer and I got even tenser, even more frustrated, so yeah, just ruined the whole rhythm, but I know it's for safety reasons.

In race two, Ellison had to settle for fourth place, finishing behind Brookes, Byrne and Cooper.

"It's going to be a tough championship all year," added Ellison. "Josh has finally broke the duck and got his first win, so congratulations to him, and Cooper as well - he put up a strong fight.

"I tried everything to get past him and it wasn't enough. I've got to be happy with third place, I've got some more points, and one more podium credit as well, so we have to be pleased."