Superstock 600 action for Silvester

He recorded a brace of sixth places and then two seventh places in the four races run over the weekend.

He steadily increased his pace to try to get back to the times he was recording when he was last fully fit.

It is nearly a year since his crash at Oulton Park last year after which he was forced to sit out the remainder of the season nursing a badly broken femur.

He said: “I was up against some Supersport machinery and was happy enough to come away with four top-seven results.

“I was on my Superstock 600 spec bike so was at a distinct disadvantage.

“The first day I struggled a little to regain confidence with the cold weather; I had issues with my fingers going numb within three laps so I couldn’t feel brake pressure.

“But I managed to solve the problem and was much more comfortable on Sunday and happy to finish the weekend with a reasonable pace.”

The next week Silvester headed to the official support class British Superbike test at Silverstone where he ended up 14th after a successful day of testing.

“It was my first time back with the Stock 600 and also my first time at Silverstone so it was small steps forward in each session,” he added.

“At the end of the day I just dipped into the 58s with my ideal best lap 0.3 seconds quicker again.

“I am happy going into the first round knowing there is more to come out of the bike and myself and am looking forward to getting out under race conditions.”

The first round of the 2019 National Superstock 600 championship takes place at Silverstone over the Easer weekend April 19-21.

Superstock 600: Friday - free practice one 11.15am, free practice two 4.25pm; Saturday - qualifying 12.15pm; Sunday - warm-up 9am, 22-lap race 11.15am.