British Superbikes: Peter Hickman battles to top-10 finishes

After qualifying in 12th position, the Louth-based rider started race one on Saturday from the fourth row of the grid, and held 10th place on the first two laps.

He dropped back to 12th, but then made a move forward to 11th on lap six of 26.

The Smiths Racing rider then made it through to eighth on lap 20, but was again beaten back to 10th where he remained to the chequered flag.

Sunday’s first race saw Hickman start from the fourth row of the grid, and conditions were considerably different, with cooler temperatures and showers.

Hicky ran inside the top 10 throughout and was involved in a battle with former MotoGP rider Hector Barbera for much of the race before eventually taking ninth position when the race was red-flagged for rain.

The Lincolnshire rider started the third and final race from seventh on the grid and completed the first lap in ninth position.

He made progress through to sixth place on lap 12 of 26, but was eventually beaten back to seventh by Christian Iddon with four laps left where he would finish.

The nine championship points lifted him up to 11th place in the rider standings.

He said: “It’s been a tough weekend, but we’ve steadily improved, although we’ve had an issue under braking which we’ve never totally cured.

“It was slightly better in the last race and I’ve ended the weekend with three top-10 finishes so we’re making progress.

“The potential of the bike is huge, we’re just not quite unlocking it all at the moment, but we’re moving in the right direction for sure.”

The next round is in three weeks’ time at Brands Hatch from June 14 to 16, but before then, Hickman travels to the Isle of Man for the TT races.

Hickman holds the outright lap record around the gruelling 37.7-mile mountain roads course and will be anxious to defend that and also add to his haul of winner’s trophies.