SAMSUNG Crescent Racing's Jon Kirkham took a debut victory in the opening race of the Croft round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, after barging ahead of his team-mate John Hopkins in changing conditions.

Kirkham said: "I honestly can't believe it; that was the scariest race of my life in terms of deciding on tyres and the changing conditions but what a race!

"I was lucky to be fair with the pace car as it gave me the chance to close the gap up and it was pretty loose out there.

"I had a few moments and (John Hopkins) was riding amazingly, pushing me all the way. This was a fantastic result as we had such a hard start to the weekend, missing a lot of time with an issue but now I just want to get on with race two."

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Croft, race one result: Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing); John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing) +2.940s; Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +3.715s; Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +13.335s; Alex Lowes (WFR Honda) +14.699s; Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +19.433s; Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) +22.455s; Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki) +24.297s; Glen Richards (WFR Honda) +26.063s; Tommy Bridewell (Tyco Honda) +27.747s

The second race of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship gets underway at 4.35pm.