Samsung Honda's Jon Kirkham has admitted he is struggling to find feel with the front-end of his Fireblade in dry conditions, a problem borne out at the Brands Hatch MCE British Superbike round last weekend.

The tall Derbyshire rider could only muster 12th and 14th-place finishes and is now looking for improvements so he can match the pace he displays in the wet when the track is dry.

“We had problems in practice and then had an engine change in qualifying. In the races I picked up a few places, but I was lacking feel to outpace and outride the others so we have to look for improvements," said Kirkham.

"It was a struggle for speed and grip and I was not too happy with the front end. We’ve not really been on it in the dry all year, but OK in the wet. It is not working for me in the dry and we need to find some answers but positively looking to the next round we know that the bike works well at Cadwell Park.”