Steve Bullimore has extended his lead in the BEMSEE Nationwide Supertwins series to 82 points.

Bullimore, from Haywards Heath, finished second and third in last Saturday's two races at Brands Hatch.

Of more importance was his main rival for the championship, Brian Giles, failing to make the start grid for either race.

The Sussex ace now has a big lead with just three dates on the calendar left.

That means six races to go, starting at Snetterton on August 30-31.

A fraught start to the weekend was compounded by Bullimore failing to get his entry in on time which meant he had to start 23rd on the grid, rather than his normal pole position.

He also found himself up against some fast non-championship riders, including Vince Whittle, an MRO Powerbike rider on a Pro-V Twins Ducati 998, Isle of Man TT regular John Barton and MRO Mille Challenge front runner Daz Jones.

Bullimore enjoyed a fabulous race, working his way through the field to eventually finish second behind Whittle.

He said: "What a race! I thoroughly enjoyed it and I also put in a new personal best lap time for Brands Indy circuit which was only 0.1 seconds outside the previous Supertwins lap record, which Vince broke in any case.

"I would never have expected to finish second in that company and as Brian wasn't racing I extended my championship lead by 20 points."

That was stretched further in race two when Bullimore opted for caution and finished third behind Whittle and Craig Barker.

In the same series, Crawley's Dave Lodge finished seventh and eighth to consolidate sixth place in the championship.

In the Superport 400 class, Portslade's Andy Ballard was 11th and ninth, while team-mate John Evans, also from Portslade, was 13th and 14th. Ballard also won the Clubman 400 race with Evans finishing fifth.

Sompting's Craig Kelly finished 12th and tenth in the two Rookie 400 races, while Peacehaven's Kevin Stone was 16th in both of the Supersport 600 races.

In the Champion of Brands showdown, Uckfield's Sam Corke came third on his Suzuki GSXR.