With three podiums from three races, Christian Iddon was the big winner out of all the Showdown Title Fighters at the weekend’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship round at Donington Park.

The VisionTrack Ducati rider kept his head in the wet conditions of the first and third wet races, finishing third and second respectively after two polished rides. That, along with another third place in the dry, helped him cut the deficit to the championship lead from 33 points to 15 with just three races remaining.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though with a crash in qualifying putting him on the back foot but he put in a storming ride in Saturday’s treacherous conditions coming through from 17th on the grid to claim the final podium position, behind good friend Kyle Ryde and ahead of Lee Jackson.

And with the McAMS duo of Jason O’Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie finishing behind him and all the other Showdown contenders crashing out, it was the ideal start to his weekend.

“Having crashed in qualifying and lining up in 17th on the grid, I didn’t think I’d end up on the podium on Saturday so third place was a terrific result in terms of both the race and the championship,” he said afterwards.

“I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong in qualifying but conditions were really tricky and the track was like ice; I even had a moment on the out lap before the race! It was scary following people in the race due to the amount of moments they were having but the battle with Lee and Kyle took my mind off things.”

“The team deserves massive credit as the bike took a big hit in the qualifying crash and needed a fair amount of repair work but it ran perfectly.”

That brought the gap down in the title fight and although it crept back up after Sunday’s first race when Mackenzie won, his retirement in the final outing meant there was plenty to aim for and Iddon took advantage with second place behind Gino Rea.

He’s now put himself in a superb position ahead of the final round at Brands Hatch, a venue that he won at earlier in the season.

“It’s been a good day and with second and third place finishes, it’s been fantastic for the championship too. I went with the hard tyre for the first race as I wasn’t sure if the softer tyre would last but the wind was really strong and it was a hard race.

“I lost the sensation with the front towards the end and struggled down Craner Curves and into the Old Hairpin but it was good to take another podium.

“Conditions were again tricky in the final race and it was very similar to how it went on Saturday with Gino setting a good pace. He was setting a really good rhythm so I sat behind him and we were quite a bit quicker than the rest of the field.

“I dropped back a little in the last couple of laps, not because I eased off but because Gino was really committed so fair play to him. With three podiums this weekend, it’s been superb for our title aspirations and we’re well and truly in the mix heading into the final round.”