Booth-Amos closes in on the championship leader while Davies struggles in the Czech Republic

The Newport star endured a difficult start to the weekend at the Autodrom Most circuit, in the Czech Republic, after he was forced to start from pit lane for Saturday's opening race following a technical problem with his bike.

But the 24-year-old battled his way through the pack to finish the opening race in an impressive eighth-placed position – and, vitally, just two position behind championship leader Adrian Huertas.

Starting sixth on the grid for race two, the RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki rider was battling for the win but was pipped on the line by just 0.008 seconds into second place.

The results left Booth-Amos just 11 points behind behind Huertas as the teams head to Magny-Cours, in France, September 3-5.

Team manager Rob Vennegoor said: "It was a very eventful weekend for us at Most with a difficult Saturday, although we lost only two points in the standings, so we can't complain too much about it.

"Fortunately, on Sunday, all our riders performed much better and we were incredibly close to victory.

"Of course it's a shame if you lose by such a small difference, but I prefer to look at the big picture as Tom did a fantastic job as he made up a lot of points in the standings.”

Meanwhile, Most proved to be a very testing circuit for Chaz Davies as he struggled all weekend after crashing out of a good position in race one.

After qualifying in 16th, the Mid Wales star had moved up four places by the first corner and was in line with a top to result.

However, on the fifth lap, Alex Lowes crashed in front, which forced him to touch the brake in the middle of the turn and he eventually hit the ground resulting in a DNF.

Davies started Sunday's point-scoring 10-lap Superpole race in 13th place but had slipped to 20th on the opening lap.

The Team Go Eleven rider then managed to find a rhythm and recovered six positions taking 14th place at the chequered flag.

Another tough race two awaited on Sunday afternoon and it started with disaster as two riders crashed in front of Davies, forcing him and other riders into the sand, which meant they lost contact with the group in front.

But he still managed to make another valiant comeback, lapping as quickly as the top five riders in places, to cross the line in 12th, which leaves him 10th in the World Superbike standings.

Davies, who also travels to France next month, said: "It was a difficult weekend. In the Superpole race I got a terrible start, then I was in the pack.

"I found quite difficult to overtake here but, anyway, my pace wasn't fantastic.

"In the last race, again, it was not a good start and I saw a big crash on the inside of me, right in my direction heading into turn one.

"If I hadn't lifted the bike I would have made contact with him on the ground, so I went on the gravel and I was obviously really far behind.

"The pace was better, probably the best of this weekend and I found a little bit more rhythm in the second race.

"I felt that the bike improved a little bit, but it still didn't feel easy.

"At the end of the race our lap time wasn't so bad and I think we could have done a little bit better without the first corner incident. For sure, it has not been an easy weekend."