Scotland's Stuart Easton was on cloud nine at Brands Hatch on Monday as he stepped on to the podium in the opening round of the ViSK British Superbike Championship.

The 25-year-old Hydrex Honda star finished third in race one at the season opener before narrowly missing out on a double celebration by finishing fourth in race two.

Easton, who switched to the factory Honda bike over the winter after a season with Kawasaki, endured a nightmare 2008 season as a broken wrist forced him to miss large chunks of the campaign.

But the Hawick flyer was back to his best at the Kent circuit and insists his opening day performance has helped to settle the nerves.

"Hydrex Honda and (team manager) Shaun Muir took a big gamble on me for this season," said Easton, from Hawick.

"I want to make sure I can show them what I can do so I'm glad to have got that first podium under my belt.

"If you had said to me before the start of this weekend that I would be qualifying third for the race and finishing third in the first race then I would have been absolutely delighted.

"I know I've got a good bike underneath me now and it will really settle me down for the rest of the season."

Former MotoGP Sylvain Guintoli took the honours in race one, while Leon Camier took the chequered flag in race two.