Pemberton Tyres-backed rider Christian Iddon showed impressive pace on his debut for the Oxford Tag Triumph team in the opening rounds of the British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch.
Christian qualified an impressive sixth on the grid for the first race of the season but was forced to start from the pits after a technical issue with his bike saw him forced to push it off the grid.
It meant he started the race from the back of the pack but soon made up places before his rear tyre started to wear and he found himself stuck in the pack.
Despite taking the finish in 18th place, Christian posted the ninth quickest time of the race to secure a strong grid slot for race two.
A fine start saw Christian climb to fourth place and he held the postion until just eight laps from the finish when a mistake at Clearways saw him lose the front end and retire from the race.
Despite the disappointment, Christian was able to show he will be a contender for honours this season and will hope to get his challenge on-track in his home round of the year at Oulton Park on the weekend of 30 April/2 May.
“While the results haven’t been great this weekend, I’m very happy with both the bike and the team,” he said. “I’ve proved I can run the lap times I need to if I’m to run near the front – I’m just a little upset with myself for making what was really a bit of a basic error when I was on for a good fourth place.”
