Christian Iddon returned to the British Superbike Championship [BSB] podium for the first time since 2021 following a battling performance at Brands Hatch that yielded two trips to the rostrum.

A half-points third place finish in the wet opening race represented Iddon's first top three result as part of the Oxford Products Ducati team, before going on to better that with a run to second place in race two.

A welcome turnaround for the Stockport rider after an indifferent start to the season, Iddon's podium at Brands Hatch ended an 18-month drought of silverware that stretched back to the final round of the 2021 BSB season at the same venue.

“We’ve had a really good weekend and right from the first Free Practice session I felt comfortable on the bike. I wasn’t necessarily super quick, but I knew we had some pace,” he said.

Opting for the hard tyre in the wet qualifying session, which both he and others struggled with, left him in 11^th on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint race but he tore through the pack and was rewarded with third place behind Ryan Vickers and Danny Kent, for his first podium of the year.

It put him on pole position for Sunday’s opener and he used it to great effect, battling for the race win throughout and eventually taking second after fighting off the close attentions of Kent, Glenn Irwin, Vickers and Jason O’Halloran.

“That’s really the difference. Since Knockhill, Snetterton and here we’ve had the pace to run at the front, but I’ve just not been at the front to do it. Starting from pole, and from the third in the second race gives you that opportunity to be out at the front.”

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Iddon was again in the thick of the action in the final race, leading for a number of laps before eventual race winner Tommy Bridewell moved ahead and then going from second to fourth after Irwin got by, Vickers also taking the opportunity to squeeze through.

A moment at Paddock Hill saw him lose a little bit of ground and fourth was the outcome, two seconds adrift of Bridewell.

“We made a change for the last race and got in the lead and felt happy. When Tommy put the hammer down, I had something for him, but Glenn got me, ran me a bit deep and Ryan came through.

"It just ended up being a bit of a scrap, which is fine, I was just on the wrong end of it. I need to be the giver, not the taker, it’s much more fun!”

“With three of four laps to go, I lost the front at Paddock and ran wide, losing half a second. And then I started to push in the wrong places to try and recover that time and ended up losing a bit more time.

"I would have liked to have stayed in that fight, but I made the mistake, so it is what it is, and I need to improve.”

“It's funny. The first race this weekend was our best, but of our two dry ones the last one was the best, I just didn’t end up with a trophy.

"That’s racing but it’s still been a really positive weekend, I’ve felt good on the bike and team has worked fantastic all weekend.” 

The results moved Iddon up to seventh in the championship standings