Peter Hickman and the Smiths Racing BMW team enjoyed a strong day at Brands Hatch after picking up a pair of top 10 finishes.
Hickman started the opening race from 11th on the grid, with a positive start seeing him move up into eighth by the end of the opening lap. Despite slipping back to 10th two laps later, the 31-year-old quickly regrouped and by half race distance he was back up into eighth place.
Lap 11 saw Hickman move past Richard Cooper to take over seventh place and with Tarran Mackenzie crashing out of third on the penultimate lap, Hickman crossed the line in sixth.
Hickman made another good start in race two, only to pushed out wide and drop down to 15th by the end of the opening lap. Hickman was able to get his head down and was able to fight his way back through the 10th in the closing stages.
Speaking about his weekend, Hickman admitted that despite qualifying being an issue once again, he was happy with his results. He said:
“Qualifying continues to be my Achilles heel but I’m satisfied with two top ten finishes today, particularly the sixth place in race one. I made a good start in both races and my pace was strong at the end of each of them, but the second race was obviously affected by the coming together which dropped me down the order. The changes we made to the bike this weekend were all positive and although I was losing a bit of time getting onto the straights, I was strong elsewhere so overall it’s been a positive day.”
Sunday’s results mean that Hickman now sits 10th in the championships standings, 43 points behind the top six showdown places.
Round seven of the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship will take place at Thruxton in two weeks time.
