Honda’s Xavi Fores clung on to a Bennetts British Superbike top-six spot at Brands Hatch in a tough weekend which saw him pick up five points from a possible 50.

The former WorldSBK didn’t make it into qualifying two on Saturday and the Spaniard had to deal with mixed conditions while trying to come through the field in race one.

A better grid slot for the dry race two saw Fores make a good start but he began to lose grip early on so had to settle for 13th.

“It’s been a tough weekend; at this kind of track I try and be as smooth and fluid on the Fireblade on my laps and we did improve a lot for the second race the set-up of the bike,” said Fores.

I felt strong at the start of the race but I felt a big drop on the tyres mid-race and I was not able to manage until the end to defend my position.

“I tried to finish the race in the best possible way, get some points for the championship and try to get some information for the next races. Sometimes racing is very frustrating, you come from three podiums in a row and then you struggle a lot like this weekend.

“But anyway, this is racing and the positive thing is that we have good information and made some improvements to the bike, so lets start from this position for the next round and see what happens.”