Christian Iddon finished top of the timesheets, as the Tyco BMW rider ended up fastest at a cold, wet and windy Donington Park, where the British Superbike Championship completed pre-season with an official test.
Following an off season programme of testing in Spain, where the Tyco team visited Cartagena and Almeria in preparation for the 2017 season, Iddon, like most, sat a great deal of the day out at Donington, where low track temperatures and rain meant teams would gain little from any time spent on track.
Despite this, the Stockport rider made the best of the situation, claiming top spot by 1.6secs from 2016 BSB Champion, Shane Byrne.
“Cartagena was pretty good,” said Iddon. “We’ve tried a lot of things, a lot of chassis and electronic things.
“We brought a lot of new parts and tested them all, I think we’ve found some good steps, so we’re just going to keep on working in that direction.
“Unfortunately the conditions at Donington meant we couldn’t really progress further.
“We can’t really read anything in to the info or the times produced as the conditions were really poor, but I’m sure at Round One we can continue to evaluate and improve”.
The BSB season begins in earnest back at Donington on the March 31 to April 2, with the twelve round Series visiting Oulton Park, Knockhill, Snetterton, Thruxton, Cadwell, Silverstone, Assen, and finishing on the Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent on the 13-15 October.
Christian starts 2017 in his second season with Tyco BMW, following an impressive first season in which he claimed six podium places for the Northern Ireland based squad.
Narrowly missing out on the top spot at his home race, Oulton Park, Iddon will be looking to get the monkey off his back when the twenty-five rider entry hits the track in anger, and stand on the podium summit, with a trademark ‘heel-click’ to mark the occasion.
“I’ve always said consistency is key” added Iddon, “and with the promise we showed last year I can only see the only way being up.
“There’s always a little time needed for you and a Team to grow together, we’ve had our growing period now, they’re a great set of guys, we work well together, and they want success as much as I do”
“It’ll be great if we can hit the ground running at Donington, score some quality points, and give it a good shot at the Championship”.