SCOTT Smart got his hopes of a top three British Superbike championship finish back on track with a third win of the season at Mallory Park.

The Sutton on Forest speedster upset the top five rankings after a good weekend at the Lincolnshire circuit saw him take two podium finishes to lift him to third overall.

Smart had started the weekend with his first pole of the season after recording 51.283 second lap to undercut overall leader John Reynolds by a third of a second.

But Reynolds wiped out the advantage and powered his Rizla Suzuki to his fifth win of the season despite intense pressure from Japanese team- mate Yukio Kagayama, and Smart had to settle for third on his Hawk Kawasaki bike.

But he took his revenge in the second race, shrugging aside an early stoppage while marshals cleared the heavy crash in which Malcolm Ashley sustained wrist and leg injuries, to take the chequered flag and enough points to move up the table from fifth to third at the expense of Kagayama and Sean Emmett.

Reynolds took second place to move 73 points clear of Rutter with four rounds remaining and was able to reflect with some satisfaction on his day's work.

Max Biaggi took his first MotoGP victory of the season in style to move back into the title hunt in the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.

Biaggi, whose consistency this season had given him an outside chance of a maiden world title, moved to within a point of championship leader Valentino Rossi after coming out on top of a three-way scrap for the win yesterday.

Biaggi, riding a Camel Honda, saw off first Rossi and then Alex Barros to take maximum points.

Updated: 11:04 Monday, July 19, 2004