Christian Iddon found himself back on the podium at Donington Park as the British Superbike Championship visited Donington Park in Leicestershire, with third place in the second of two races at the former British Grand Prix venue.
Iddon, from Stockport, set the pace throughout the opening day of Free Practice, topping the times in the first two sessions on Friday, and in contrasting conditions as the wet morning gave way to afternoon sunshine.
Qualifying fifth on the grid, Iddon started Race One well, climbing to fourth on the opening lap, and confident he had the pace for a podium spot. But a mistake on lap nine running deep in to the final bend dropped him back five places, leaving the podium a tough ask in the grid of fiercely competitive riders, that had seen the top eighteen riders within a second of each other during Qualifying.
Christian was able to claw back a place by the flag, leaving him in eighth, and sitting in sixth on the grid for Race Two.
The former Super Moto Champion grabbed a place on the opening tour of Race Two, and by lap thirteen, he’d grabbed two more spots, leaving him to cling on to the final podium spot behind Championship protagonists Shane Byrne [Ducati] and Dan Linfoot [Honda], Byrne taking his second win of the day.
Iddon left Donington in much more buoyant mood than seven days ago [having dropped out of the title showdown at Oulton Park], and the Tyco BMW rider believes he, and the Team, are back where they belong.
“It’s been a positive weekend” beamed Christian, “we were strong from the outset, and had good pace all weekend long. If I hadn’t made a mistake in Race One it could’ve been two podiums this afternoon.
“It’s great to be back on the box” he admitted. “It’s where we should be. Assen is a similar track, so we’ll look to carry similar for over there and end the season well”.
Of the new Superpole Qualifying format, where the top nine have a one lap shoot out to decide their order for Race One, Christian admitted he likes the challenge, “I’m enjoying the new format. It puts a lot of pressure on one lap, but that’s what we’re here to do”.
The British Superbike Championship now heads to the Netherlands, as the Series visits Circuit Assen on the 30th Sept – 2nd October for the penultimate round of 2016.