VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon got a much needed boost in confidence at Snetterton on Sunday when he took a strong fifth in the final Bennetts British Superbike race at the Norfolk venue.

The weekend had threatened to unravel for the one-time Championship leader when he had to go into Q1 in qualifying and then crashed in the opening race. After seeing his 33-race streak of finishing in the points end at Thruxton last month, it was his fifth crash in nine races.

Not all of those crashes were his fault, it has to be said, but he gradually pieced his weekend back together and after taking 11th, from 16th on the grid, in Sunday’s opener, the fifth place finish at the end of the day came at a more than welcome time with the Showdown rapidly approaching.

“Friday and Saturday were frustrating but I made a good step in qualifying with a 1’47 flat and I was feeing a lot better in myself and was looking forward to the first race to build the confidence back up,” Iddon said.

“Unfortunately, I lost the rear on the first lap and the bike spun 360º on me causing me to crash. It was a real shame as my race was over before it had begun and we didn’t learn anything. Thankfully, I was ok but it put me a long way back on the grid for Sunday’s first race.”

“I was a bit disappointed with 11th but at the same time I needed a finish after the run we’ve been on. I felt pretty racy up until about mid-race and I lost a bit of front end feel in the latter stages whilst the harder tyre didn’t quite work as I’d hoped.”

Obviously keen to get back into the podium positions – which he took seven of in the first ten races – as soon as possible, Iddon switched to the softer SC0 Pirelli tyre for the final race and also refined both the electronics and chassis which enabled him to be more aggressive in the final race.

“After the red flag, it was a five-lap dash which is always a bit hairy but the little changes we’d made helped the bike be better again and although a podium may have been possible, it wasn’t to be and we took the fifth.”

“It’s obviously not where I want to be finishing or where I need to be but we’ll take what we can and it’s stopped the rot a little bit so we’ll build on this and look to get back into the top three next time out.”

Iddon remains on 23 podium credits, tied with Tommy Bridewell, and is now 40 behind championship leader Jason O’Halloran.