A solid points haul for Christian Iddon saw the TYCO BMW rider climb five places to sixth in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings at Brands Hatch over the weekend.

Iddon, from Stockport, went well all weekend, running as high as P2 in free practice around the Kent circuit’s ultra-competitive ‘Indy’ layout where the top 20 riders can set times within a second of one-another.

A disappointing qualifying session left the former Supermoto champion on the back foot, but Iddon started brilliantly, climbing five places to fifth, where he would settle until the chequered flag fell.

With a more positive fifth-placed grid spot for race two, Iddon started on the front, climbing to third place, before the red flags flew, with rain starting to settle on the track.

Frantic pit action took place to get bikes back out for the restart, but with worsening conditions, and a bike not set up for the wet, Iddon couldn’t get the flow he wanted from the bike, eventually bringing his BMW home in a masterful sixth place in awful conditions.

“No trophies, but I think it’s been a positive weekend,” said Iddon. “I’ve been strong all weekend, we were up there in pretty much every session.

“I didn’t qualify where I wanted to, but all the times are that close round here. In all the free practice I was the right side of the times, I was up the front, just in qualifying I was just the wrong side of it, leaving me tenth, which is fourth row. That made race one quite difficult.

Iddon now heads to Le Mans, in France, where he will compete in a 24hr race with TYCO BMW team-mate Michael Laverty. The BSB series then heads for Iddon’s ‘home’ round of Oulton Park on the May 5-7.