Eastbourne star Mark Loram came third in Saturday night's Slovenian Grand Prix, the first to be run in the country.

The Eagles' No. 1 rode superbly to finish behind Australian Ryan Sullivan and Poland's Tomasz Gollob at Krsko.

It was Loram's second third-place finish in four Grand Prix meetings this season and lifts him into seventh place in the race for the world championship.

Loram, who also came third in Poland, is the only British rider in the top dozen, 31 points behind Sullivan, the new championship leader.

It needed TV replays to separate Sullivan and Gollob as they flashed over the line.

It was Sullivan's second successive victory following his win in the British Grand Prix, and he now leads Tony Rickardsson by 12 points.

Semi-finals: 1 Ryan Sullivan, 2 Mark Loram, 3 Tony Rickardsson, 4 Jason Crump. 1 Andreas Jonsson, 2 Tomasz Gollob, 3 Leigh Adams, 4 Mikael Karlsson. Final: 1 Sullivan, 2 Gollob, 3 Loram, 4 Jonsson.

Leaders: 1 Ryan Sullivan 83pts; 2 Tony Rickardsson 71; 3 Tomasz Gollob 63; 4 Leigh Adams 55; 5 Mikael Karlsson & Jason Crump 54; 7 Mark Loram 52; 8 Todd Wiltshire 45; 9 Billy Hamill 36; 10 Andreas Jonsson 34.