Christian Iddon, from Stockport, narrowly missed out on a spot in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship’s ‘Showdown’ period, and a chance of a crack at the 2018 title, despite riding three races at Silverstone with a broken collarbone, winning the plaudits of fans and his peers, alike.
Iddon had been running strongly throughout free practice at the Northamptonshire track, when a fall in qualifying left the TYCO BMW rider with a broken left collarbone, and seemingly out of the race weekend. But just three hours later, with the help of the BSB medical team, Christian was back in the saddle and joining the grid to take part in race one of the weekend’s trio of encounters.
A broken sensor left the former World Superbike rider to finish in fifteenth position, but more determined than ever to give it everything he had over the next two races at the Grand Prix venue, to remain in contention for a Showdown spot.
Despite riding in a great deal of pain, Iddon took fifth in race two, and leaving himself with every chance of pulling off the seemingly impossible. Pushing with the front runners Christian ran as high as third position in the third and final race of the weekend, but a small mistake on lap eleven, while contending with a brake problem, saw him drop to twelfth, and despite his best efforts, and a climb back to eighth, the former Super Moto Champion would eventually cross the line tenth, and out of the Showdown.
Speaking to TYCO BMW later, Iddon said; “There was a lot at stake this weekend, so I think any rider would have ridden, everyone is pushing for the same thing but I had put myself in that position to start with so I just needed to crack on with the job and do the best I could.
“The guys in the team have done a great job, the bike has been really quick all weekend. In all free practice sessions and first qualifying I was quickest down the back straight in every single session, but come race time I slipped back considerably as I couldn’t get tucked in tight with the collarbone injury.
“I gave it everything that I have got this weekend, I’m disappointed that we are not in the top six as it’s a lot of hard work that goes in by a lot of people, but I will do everything I can to finish the season as strong as possible.
“The support I have got has been incredible, that is a huge thing I will take away from this weekend. A big thank you to everyone for all the support, I genuinely really appreciate it, it certainly helps as a painkiller when I read through all the messages.”
TYCO BMW team boss, Philip Neill, added; “We obviously couldn’t have asked for anything more from Christian. His efforts were nothing short of heroic and he deserves every ounce of credit for his determination this weekend.
“Unfortunately we came up a little short in the end but after missing some races earlier in the season, it was always going to be a tough task even before the broken collarbone he sustained on Saturday”.
The next round of the series is this coming weekend, 14-16 September, at Iddon’s local track, Oulton Park, in Cheshire, though depending on the results of a consultation with his surgeon, he is currently unsure whether or not he will be riding.