Samsung Crescent Suzuki's John Hopkins saw his British Superbike
Championship lead reduced to two points ahead of the season
finale after a technical problem on the opening lap dropped him
to an eventual 12th in the penultimate round of the series on
the Brands Hatch GP course.  Hopkins had extended his lead to 11
points by fighting off a determined Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) to
finish third to Hill's fourth in Saturday's race, a makeup race
for an earlier rain-out at Oulton Park and the first of three on
the weekend. But Hopkins' title hopes were dealt a blow on the
first lap of Sunday's 20 laps when a sensor failed, forcing him
to turn off the system and reboot the ECU, which forced him to
the back of the 31-rider field. Since the technical issue wasn't
fatal Hopkins was able to re-start and fight his way back to
12th, more than a minute behind the race winner.  HM Plant
Honda's Shakey Byrne won the race over Hopkins' teammate Jon
Kirkham, with James Ellison ( Honda) a distant third. Hill
couldn't take advant