Positive weekend of podiums for region's riders and teams on world and British stage

The Newport ace secured two second-place finishes as he returned to action at Magny-Cours, which kept him second in the championship, 21 points behind Spaniard Adrian Huertas.

World Superbike star Chaz Davies, from Mid Wales, also enjoyed a much better round in France, following two DNFs at the previous meeting, bagging three top-10 finishes to end the weekend as the fastest independent rider.

Meanwhile, Bridgnorth's Michael Rutter and his Bathams Racing team bounced back on to the podium after his star rider, Taylor Mackenzie, claimed a second in the National Superstock championship as the British Superbike series moved to Snetterton.

The result moved Mackenzie back up to fourth in the series, 31 points behind leader Tom Neave.

For Booth-Amos, after qualifying in second and he was soon fighting for the win in race one only to narrowly beaten across the finish line.

The World SSP300 series has thrown up some of the closest races all season and Sunday's second encounter was no different.

In a race full of drama, position changes and crashes, 24-year-old Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki rider Booth-Amos again crossed the line second place, which keeps in contention for the championship with three race weekends to go.

Team manager Rob Vennegoor: "Tom did all he could and it’s a shame that he wasn’t able to took a race win at Magny-Cours as he and his team deserved that after the fighting spirit of them. But it is was it is and we can’t complain after a double podium."

Davies, 34, began his weekend in France qualifying 11th for the opening race but had lost two positions after the flag dropped, which dragged him into a close bunch of riders covering 13th to sixth.

The Team Go Eleven rider was soon fighting with Scott Redding, Tom Sykes, Axel Bassani and Alvaro Bautista for positions, eventually climbing to seventh place at the chequered flag.

And Sunday turned out to be even better for the Presteigne rider as he claimed an eighth in the points-scoring Superpole race and then a fifth in race two, to sit 11th in the standings.

Davies said: "It was a good solid race. I didn't have the same troubles as Saturday, where I was struggling to stop the bike.

"To be honest, I think it was because the group was a little bit less busy. It helps when you can do your own things and ride the bike in the way that we know how.

"I tried to follow Locatelli, to look for an opportunity, but he was solid, he had a good pace and was not making mistakes.

"I lost a little the ground with him and then I came back.

"At the same time we were catching Scott, so I thought, 'I'll let Locatelli set the pace', and in the last laps I tried to find an opportunity to pass, but I didn't have much more than that.

"We suffered a little bit with grip, but the pace of our bike was similar to Scott, so I am happy with that."

Round seven of the National Superstock championship saw a six-race drought of podium finishes come to an end with a second-place finish for Taylor Mackenzie.

A much-needed return to form for Bathams Racing came at Snetterton following a number of set up changes to the new BMW M1000RR.

And the changes made an impact during the very first practice session on Friday, with Mackenzie immediately on the same pace as the championship frontrunners.

After qualifying seventh, Mackenzie got a good start to get away with the leaders and was one of only three riders to lap the Norfolk circuit in the 1:49 bracket, as he made his way up to second position, which he held on to all the way to the chequered flag.

Team boss Rutter said: "If we've learned nothing this year, it is that anything can happen.

"There's still seven races to go and we're only 31 points behind the championship leader.

"We made a lot of really big changes to the bike during the weekend which Taylor is very happy with, so I believe we've got a really strong package now that can win the championship."

Newport's Harry Rowlings, 21, also continued his good form in the GP2 class of the British Supersport series finishing eighth and sixth in class, to sit ninth in the standings.

Davies and Booth-Amos will be back in action at the Catalunya circuit, September 17-19, while Mackenzie and Rowlings race at Silverstone this weekend.