Relentless Suzuki's Michael Laverty put in a gritty performance in the second race of the day at Croft to fight off championship leader Tommy Hill for the second victory in the Showdown to force his way up to second in the overall standings.

Michael Laverty took the lead on the opening lap on the Relentless Suzuki, powering off the line to hold of Stuart Easton and Tommy Hill into turn one, but the Worx Crescent Suzuki rider was challenging on the opening lap, but wasn't able to make it stick.

Hill was up to second on the third lap as he lunged up the inside at the Hairpin to pass the Swan Honda of Easton, but as the pair crossed the line side-by-side Easton was latest on the brakes to retake the second place.

Michael Laverty had started to edge out a slight advantage as the battle raged behind, but Hill soon was closing him down and setting his sights on his second win of the day. He waited until the fifteenth lap to make a move up the inside at the Hairpin, but Laverty wasn't giving up on the victory and he fought his way back with a determined move on the seventeenth lap before Hill once again retook the lead. Michael Laverty finally made it stick on the penultimate lap with a move on the brakes into Tower and despite Hill's best attempts it was Relentless Suzuki who secured victory.

Laverty said:

"That was a really tough race and I knew Tommy was going to be there fighting hard for that win, especially after race one. I pegged him back and just went for it, got passed and then knew I had to put in two really good laps to hold him off. I was waiting for him to try and pass as I could see from my pitboard and the big screen he was right behind me, but we kept pushing and a win is a great result for the Relentless Suzuki team."

Ryuichi Kiyonari put in a fighting effort after another slow start to finish fourth as he worked his way through from outside the top ten to be the first of the HM Plant Hondas home, whilst team-mate Josh Brookes was forced to settle for eighth.

The battle for fourth was intense and Kiyonari wasn't able to get the better of Michael Rutter until the final lap, pushing the Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati to fifth and James Ellison dropped to sixth after losing out to Kiyo a few laps previously.

Motorpoint Yamaha's Dan Linfoot was back inside the top ten with a ninth place as he was passed by Brookes on the penultimate lap and Simon Andrews was also involved in the scrap but ended the race tenth for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team.

Hudson Kennuagh secured the second Mirror.co.uk BSB - Evo race win as he worked his way past the injured Steve Brogan, who dropped to third behind Gary Johnson.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Croft, race two result:

Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS)
Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.202s
Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +8.534s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +9.590s
Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +9.833s
James Ellison (Swan Honda) +10.138s
Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +10.730s
Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +11.619s
Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +12.412s
Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +16.489s

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Croft:

Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 570
Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 554
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 543
Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 542
Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 521
Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 506