It’s still very early in proceedings in this year’s British Superbike Championship and whilst he’s not yet at the level that has seen him challenge for victories in each and every race, round three at Donington Park showed that Christian Iddon is getting more and more to grips with the Buildbase Suzuki.

The Tyneside-based rider was a late signing to the team and after a solid start to the season, scoring points in every race at the first two rounds, he was more competitive at Donington and a lot closer to the leading pack.

Indeed, he came away with two sixth place finishes as well as a seventh and was in contention for a podium finish in both the first and third races. The results were particularly pleasing after only managing 15th in free practice and 14th in qualifying.

“I think fourth was possible in the final race and I tried my best and pushed hard on every lap but sixth was ultimately the outcome,” he said afterwards. “Friday and Saturday were a bit of a disaster and I qualified very poorly but the three races were a lot better.”

“The first race was very positive but the change we made to the bike for the second sent us the wrong way. We had to try something though so for the third race, we went back to the first race set-up and regained what we had.

“After the way Oulton had gone, I was ready to come to Donington and put it on the box but the feeling I had on Friday showed that wasn’t going to happen. The pace has moved on an awful lot in 2022 – I’m not sure how or why – and I’m pushing and pushing to go with the front runners’

“We’re starting to find a good base setting now and had the same front-end set-up as Oulton but whilst I’m going faster myself, we’re missing that last little bit at the moment. We’re working really well as a team and all pushing hard and I’m expecting Knockhill to be another interesting meeting.”