Paul Bird Kawasaki stand-in rider Stuart Easton reckons he should have pushed harder in the first Assen World Superbike race but then pushed too hard in the second race, losing the front while sniffing around a points finish.

The Hydrex Honda British Superbike star was drafted into the Kawasaki team when regular rider Broc Parkes crashed during testing at Snetterton early last week as he had been testing on the bike in Spain over the winter.

"I qualified as well as I expected seeing it was a new bike and not so familiar to me, and it was a bonus to out-qualify Makoto. In race one I had a good start but I was a bit disappointed with my result as I felt that I was being a bit too cautious and could have maybe pushed a little harder," said the Scotsman, who was making his WSB debut.

"In race two I wanted to try and grab some points and was pushing a bit too hard and lost the front early on which was unfortunate for me and the team. Overall it was a good experience here for me in Assen and I wish the guys the best of luck in Monza. It was a real pleasure to be asked by Paul to replace Broc this weekend and be part of a factory team at this level as I know the team well so it was nice to be working with them again."