BRIERLEY Hill bikeman Michael Rutter finished fifth in the latest round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship which took place at Thruxton on Sunday.

Rutter, who was representing the Bathams/SMT Racing team finished fifth for the third meeting in a row.

He had hoped for better after clocking the quickest time in Saturday's opening qualifying session.

Once the race took shape, a total of six riders pulled clear to battle out the honours and it all boiled down to the final lap of 13.

Taylor Mackenzie took first place from Keith Farmer with defending champion Josh Elliott third.

Rutter admitted afterwards: "I wasn't as ruthless as I should have been. If you see a gap, you don't mess around, you take it and I probably wasn't doing that enough."

Rutter remains fifth overall going into the eighth round of the series which takes place at Brands Hatch on August 7.

Overall positions after seven rounds: Taylor MacKenzie 133, Ian Hutchinson 110, Keith Farmer 106, Josh Elliott 88, Michael Rutter 77