Round four of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton didn’t start well for Danny Buchan with the title hopeful only managing 13th in the opening encounter around the high-speed circuit. 

But from that moment on, the Synetiq BMW riders’ fortunes went on an upward curve and after taking seventh in Sunday’s opener, a good second place in the final race of the weekend saw him back on the podium for the first time since his double victory at Knockhill a month ago.
 
“It was a bit of a difficult weekend with the conditions and we were playing catch up with set up after losing a lot of time on Friday,” explained Buchan. “It was my first time here on a BMW and the first time ever for the M1000RR but we continually improved the bike and it got better every time I rode it.”
 
Indeed. Buchan and crew chief Phil McLaughlin made numerous changes between Saturday and Sunday and although the aforementioned seventh place wasn’t what he was looking for, it was a major step in the right direction with his best lap just half a second shy of the fastest lap compared to almost a second the day before.
 
The wet race then played into his hands despite having to start from the third row. Eighth in the early stages, he was up into the podium positions by the seventh lap and when Jason O’Halloran took the lead two laps later, the Essex rider did everything he could to go with him.
 
“Going into the last race we were a bit unsure what tyre choice to make as it was spitting with rain on the grid but we chose the intermediate rear and wet front which turned out to be the best combination.”
 
“We were pushing really hard in the rain and with the speeds we were doing, it was quite scary at times so fair play to Jason. He had that bit more than me but we managed to bag some more podium credits, which is what we wanted, and solidify our place in the championship. We just need to keep the ball rolling.”