LEON Haslam made local knowledge count as he led home the British challenge in theWorld Superbike Championship at Donington Park.

The 26-year old 'Pocket Rocket' from Smalley has hundreds of laps of the sweeping parkland circuit under his belt, gained from working at his dad Ron's race school, which is based at the track.

And Haslam certainly put that intimate knowledge to good use as he powered his Stiggy Honda to fourth in the day's opening race and then went even better with second place in the race that followed in front of 61,000 fans

He may not have been able to match for pace double race winner Ben Spies on a Yamaha, but the local rider certainly had plenty to smile about.

Haslam had vowed before the race that a podium finish was well within his grasp and he'd give it his all.

Haslam said: "We've been struggling for the past few rounds with unknown circuits and I really wanted to get on that podium.

"I feel good, but obviously feel sorry for Haga because I was pushing him hard and I was pretty happy to get second. In the first race I was really suffering from chatter but everyone in the team has been behind me all weekend so a big thanks to them."

As for American ace Spies, he is now only 14 points behind championship leader Noriyuki Haga after his double victory, stamping his authority on the weekend following his pole position in qualifying.

Spies was the only rider to claim two podium finishes, with Haga suffering a heavy fall in race two and Max Biaggi – second in race one – falling from the runner-up spot on lap four of race two to trail in last.

Biaggi, who momentarily took the lead from Spies into turn one, then clashed with Alessandro Polita in his haste to rejoin the race and eventually finished 21st.

Haga, third in race one, moved up to second after Biaggi's error but held the position for less than a lap before he crashed heavily through the fast Coppice turn, his bike hitting him repeatedly as he tumbled to a halt.

The popular Japanese star was eventually able to walk away with the support of marshals, but his title lead over Spies is now all but gone.

The American Yamaha star then rode into the distance to claim his second victory of the day and tenth of the year by 6.622 seconds after backing off in the closing stages.

Behind Spies, Haslam emerged triumphant from a three-way scrap for second, less than two-tenths of a second ahead Haga's Ducati Xerox team-mate Michel Fabrizio..

It was a great result for Haslam and one that has seen his climb back up to fifth in the overall championship standings.

World Superbike Championship rd 12, 1st race: 1 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 34mins 57.230secs, 2 Max Biaggi (Ita) Aprilia 35:04.386, 3 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Ducati 35:08.198, 4 Leon Haslam (Gbr) Honda 35:16.073, 5 Shane Byrne (Gbr) Ducati 35:16.355, 6 Shinya Nakano (Jpn) Aprilia 35:18.516, 7 Jonathan Rea (Gbr) Honda 35:20.874, 8 John Hopkins (USA) Honda 35:30.079, 9 Jakub Smrz (Cze) Ducati 35:30.134, 10 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda 35:30.422.

Race 2: 1 Spies 35mins 14.788secs, 2 Haslam 35:21.410, 3 Michel Fabrizio (Ita) Ducati 35:21.604, 4 Byrne 35:22.137, 5 Tom Sykes (Gbr) Yamaha 35:22.933, 6 Leon Camier (Gbr) Yamaha 35:28.251, 7 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda 35:30.539, 8 James Ellison (Gbr) Yamaha 35:31.625, 9 Ruben Xaus (Spa) BMW 35:37.679, 10 Simon Andrews (Gbr) Kawasaki 35:45.135.

Championship: 1 Haga 308pts, 2 Spies 294, 3 Fabrizio 257, 4 Rea 177, 5 Haslam 167, 6 Biaggi 155.