It was a positive weekend for Tyco BMW rider Christian Iddon despite a slow start to the latest rounds of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch in Kent.

Stockport racer Iddon missed the opening free practice session of the weekend when the team suffered a technical problem.

The former Supermoto champion came back with a bang, however, setting the third fastest time in the second free session, just four-tenths of a second off the fastest time around the 2.4 mile Grand Prix layout.

He kept it in the mix the day after too, just eight-tenths off in free practice three, and then went sixth fastest of the 27 riders in qualifying for the opening race of the weekend.

“It started out in a difficult way,” Iddon said. “But then the bike felt really good in the second session. So it was a really positive end to the first day.

“We tried a few things in free practice three and probably went the wrong way a bit; you never really go the wrong way because then you get the information to not go in that direction.”

Wet weather for race day made for tricky conditions and a drying track in race one added to the excitement.

As the race wore on, a broken foot peg left Iddon struggling to compete and with riders around him going quicker, he lost a place to team-mate Keith Farmer, finishing seventh, and could only manage 13th fastest time for the race two grid.

A great start saw Iddon climb four places on the opening lap and he claimed sixth place when the chequered flag dropped.

Iddon added: “Race one was frustrating – it cost me one position.

“But as the track dried everyone else was going quicker and quicker, and because I had this slight issue, I was actually going slower, which gave me work to do in race two.

“Race two was actually quite positive from where I was on the grid.”

Next up the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visits Knockhill in Scotland over the weekend of June 28-30.