Peter Hickman bounced back from difficult practice and qualifying sessions to pick up two, ten-place finishes at Brands Hatch.
The Smiths Racing BMW rider started the first race back in 17th place, on row six of the grid, but was able to fight his way through to eighth in the early stages of the race.
Lapping at a similar pace as the podium finishers, Hickman continued to push his machine to the limit but ultimately had to settle for ninth place.
Hickman started race two from the third row and soon found himself fighting towards the front of the pack, in fifth place.
The 30-year-old diced with reigning champion Shane Byrne for a number of laps and ended up finishing the race in seventh place.
Looking back over the weekend, Hickman said: “I was nowhere all weekend but on race day things started to come together and full credit to the team, they worked so hard and the changes we made helped to move me forward. During qualifying, it was really tough and I had to go well out of my comfort zone to do the lap times whereas on race day I was a lot happier.
“It still wasn’t easy but it was a lot better than it was and to say I’m pleased with the outcome would be an understatement. I’ve done my best ever lap of the Indy circuit and have more points than what I did after two rounds in 2016 so we can go away happy.”
The positive results leave Hickman within the Showdown places after the opening two rounds of the season, in fifth position. The BMW rider sits 11 points behind fourth-place man, Josh Brookes.
The next round of the 2017 MCE British Superbike Championship will take place at Oulton Park over the May Bank Holiday Weekend (April 29 – May 1).
