Christian Iddon remains in contention for the Bennetts British Superbike Showdown despite a tough weekend at Thruxton that saw the TYCO BMW rider finish race two in the barriers at the final corner.
Iddon, from Stockport, struggling with grip around the high-speed Hampshire track, progressed well through free practice, climbing to second spot in the third session of the weekend.
Team-mate Michael Laverty dropped out of qualifying in Q1, lying in 19th place, while Iddon took his BMW S1000RR right through to Q3, setting seventh fastest time, on the third row of the grid.
A tough opening lap in race one saw Iddon 12th across the line, but the former Supermoto champion clawed his way back through the field to run as high as seventh by the midway point. Suffering badly with tyre wear, he dropped away slowly, eventually finishing 13th as the chequered flag fell.
Starting eleventh in race two, Iddon climbed to seventh after just one lap, enjoying close battles with Luke Mossey [Kawasaki] and Glenn Irwin [Ducati], but on lap 15 he slid out of contention at the final corner, hitting the Recticel barriers on the outside of the track.
Speaking to TYCO BMW afterwards, Christian said; “Thruxton is always a bit of a curveball and we have seen that again this round. The weekend went well until race day, our pace has never been in question, but tyre life has always been difficult.
Iddon now lies 20 points outside the championship Showdown places with five races remaining, but with 15 points on offer for a win, it’s all to play for.
Elsewhere, Ben Luxton grabbed a podium in the BSB supporting Superstock 600 category, the Stockport rider claiming third place on his G&S Racing Kawasaki.
Next up for the BSB series is the undulating Lincolnshire track of Cadwell Park over the weekend of August 17-19.