HM Plant Honda's Josh Brookes may have finished the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race of the day in fifth but the Australian ace vows to fight back tomorrow in a bid to secure a maiden title.

Brookes had a tough opening lap and dropped to eleventh from his third row start, but a determined ride saw him battle through the pack to finish the race in fifth, although he is now 20 points adrift of championship leader Tommy Hill ahead of tomorrow's Showdown.

Brookes said: "It was a tough race for me; I got a horrendous start in the race and dropped down to eleventh but it took a lot of energy and grip to fight through to fifth and towards the end of the race I was running out of both. We just didn't have the pace today that the others had; we need to be faster tomorrow and hopefully we can come up with something so we can challenge for the wins."

Don't miss the final two races of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park tomorrow (10 October) - the Showdown decider. For more information visit www.oultonpark.co.uk or call 0870 950 9000.