Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon has warned that many riders could be throwing caution to the wind in a last-ditch effort to get into the Championship Showdown this weekend.

The third-fastest man of the day also says that it could be a tyre gamble even if the weather stays dry this weekend.

Iddon clocked a 54.064s lap just minutes before the end of today’s second free practice session to slot in behind Jake Dixon and pacesetter Bradley Ray, but admits he and the Moneymore squad still have setup decisions to make ahead of the rest of the weekend.

The former Supermoto star has found the link road on the National track, which most riders had yet to experience before today, to be unlike the rest of the flat Silverstone Circuit and likely to provide a challenge for the field in this weekend’s three races.

“That corner at the back is a strange one because it kind of opens when you go in and then it really pulls back on you,” he told Bikesport News. “On the big track it’s a really nice passing place because you funnel in nicely, but this one isn’t as easy to pass into as I thought.

“Where the link road comes together there’s some undulations. Silverstone is so flat, there’s only two tiny little bumps on it so makes it different.

“I don’t really know where we’re at with tyre wear, but I can go fast on the hard tyre so I’m not desperately worried. The hard tends to get rid of rubber because it spins more but the soft tyre doesn’t wears it away a lot quicker. I’m trying to work out what the lesser of the two evils is.

Iddon also says that the crucial nature of this weekend’s triple-header means riders will be going out with guns ablaze, but he’s happy that it’s going to happen on a circuit as wide as Silverstone.

“This is a good track to have a race on, and by that I mean there’s space. It’s a different feeling when you go racing around here because you have a lot of space to work on. 

“You’ve got space to give each other, there’s going to be a lot of elbows this weekend as there’s a lot at stake here for a lot of people. Racing is going to get tight but it’s nice to do it on a track where there’s a bit of space.”