Britain’s Leon Haslam took a brace of second places in the Japanese Superbike finale at Suzuka despite a trip to the medical centre after a crash in the second outing.

The Derby rider was involved in a scrap with Kats Nakasuga right to the line in race one but then disaster struck in the second race and Haslam was taken to the medical centre after a crash on the start/finish straight. He made the re-start but just wasn’t able to match the Yamaha man’s top speed so it was second again.

“I started the second race well, sitting in fourth and then a rider crashed in front of my team-mate and I hit a combination of both accidents. I had to go to the medical centre to be passed fit but then had to use my second bike for the re-start and I haven’t had a good feeling with that all weekend,” said Haslam.

“I led for most of the race and had a good battle with the Yamaha but just couldn’t match his speed over a lap and finished second. I’m more than happy with that. Thanks to everyone at Kawasaki for making this happen, it was a lot of fun.”