Hayfield racer Christian Iddon overcomes adversity for season's best finish

“Honestly the way I feel I'm just glad the weekend is over but it feels so good to be leaving with a strong showing,” he said.

“We had absolutely everything thrown at us this weekend with technical issues, being caught up in another rider's crash and illness of all things, but as a team we have come out of it stronger.

“We lost pretty much all of Friday and some of Saturday morning due to technical issues, but the bike was good from FP4 and I was content with how we went in qualifying.

“I knew we were still on the back foot going into race one but I was confident of a good result but I got taken out early on and that was that.

“Late on Saturday evening I began to feel unwell and that got progressively worse. I don't want to go into much detail but it wasn't a fun night for me and I just couldn't believe that after all our troubles that we would have illness added to that.

“Thankfully I was able to ride and I ended up ninth in the first race on Sunday.

“It was a high rate of attrition which helped me and at one point I was up to sixth but I didn't have the strength or energy and lost some places on the last few laps.

“In the final race I was feeling a little better and from the moment I set off I knew I had a better bike beneath me.

“Finally the team had good data to work from after the previous race and they obviously had put it to good use.

“It's the first time this year I've felt good with my bike and we were one of the fastest bikes out there all race. I was able to pick riders off one by one and if I'd been able to pass Haslam a little more quickly I think a podium was possible.

“I'm just so grateful to the team for all of their hard work and efforts.

“We have had everything thrown at us this weekend and in the end we have been able to show the kind of pace we are capable of.

“I'm genuinely really excited now for the rest of the season and using this result as a springboard for the next races."

The weekend started off on a difficult note with the technical issue that had plagued the team at round one returned and Iddon was only able to complete six flying laps on Friday due to the problem.

By Saturday morning the problem was fixed but there were still a few unresolved problems with the bike which also lost vital track time.

With the one lap Superpole in play, the series had an extra practice which was much needed for Iddon and his team as they had now fixed all the issues and straight away, Iddon and his machine were able to put in competitive times.

Just an hour or so later and Iddon had qualified on the third row of the grid in ninth which was excellent given the situation.

He got a great start for the first race and was up to a high of fourth position by the end of lap one but as the riders came to complete lap two, Iddon was taken down and out of the race. It was a bitter blow and further cost the team vital set up information.

As Sunday came around the adversity continued as Iddon had become very ill overnight and in the early morning required medics to attend his caravan to check his situation. The team agreed to allow him to try to race on the understanding that he would retire if he felt he was unable to ride with full concentration.

The first race of Sunday actually turned out quite well and Iddon brought the bike home in ninth position with solid points on the board.

It was now down to the final race and from 15th on the grid, Iddon picked riders off one by one as he hunted down what was a potential podium position.

It was clear both Iddon and his bike were both working well and feeling good and fifth place at the flag was a huge reward for the team for all their hard work and efforts over a very difficult weekend.

The next round of the Championship will be held at Knockhill on 16th-18th June.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​