Jake Dixon admitted he was delighted to knock series leader Leon Haslam off the rostrum in this afternoon's second race, despite not taking the win himself.

The RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki rider, who led the early laps of race two before being eclipsed by eventual victor Josh Brookes, was involved in a race-long battle with Haslam and second-placed Peter Hickman.

While they couldn't quite catch the Aussie out front, the trio were still fighting for vital podium credits which will give them a boost at the start of the championship showdown later this season.

Dixon, who bagged two credits with a second in race one and a third in race two, says it's just as important to keep Haslam's advantage at bay now as it will be come the final three races of 2018.

"I wouldn’t say I’m over the moon, but it’s another podium, more podium credits and mainly we’ve knocked Leon off the podium so that means he’s not got any podium credits," he said. "I was really happy when I did that.

"As soon as temperatures got up to about 50 degrees like in the second race, we seemed to struggle just that little bit more. 

"But I’m not taking it away from the team, they’ve obviously done their jobs as much as I’ve done mine.

"Josh and Peter just had a little more rear tyre than me today, but they both rode amazing. I can't take anything away from them."