Iddon hindered by finger injury
THERE’S always going to be tough days in motorsport, but Christian Iddon admittedly made his weekend at Snetterton tougher before the team had even arrived at the Norfolk track!
An accident during the week, whilst at work, with a ‘post knocker’ left Iddon with the top of his index finger on his left hand practically hanging off.
A visit to Norwich Hospital revealed his fingertip was literally hanging on by a thread of tendon, just millimetres from needing to be removed.
Stitches were used to temporarily attach the fingertip, allowing Iddon to race, whie he was due to return for an operation to attach it properly.
Obviously on the back foot before even climbing aboard his MCE Insurance British Superbike, and with help from the Tyco BMW Team and BSB Medical staff, Iddon surprised all taking sixth spot in mixed conditions during free practice 1.
A tougher session in free practice 2 saw the Stockport rider thirteenth, though just four-hundredths of a second slower than team-mate Michael Laverty.
But Iddon showed he wasn’t to take his injury lying down, grabbing third place in free practice 3, on a changeable track.
The weather brightened for qualifying and Iddon made it through to BSB’s Q3 session, ‘Superpole’, where the top nine riders take part in a single lap shoot-out to see who will take pole position.
Iddon grabbed eighth place on the thirty rider grid.
A tough start in Race 1 saw Iddon receive contact going in to turn two, an incident that would leave the former Supermoto Champion with a damaged clutch lever, broken boot, and a near miss on the grass with a stranded bike.
The result of which left him in last place, struggling for gears, and needing to refasten his boot several times during the Race, resulting in a nineteenth place at the flag out of the points for the first time this season.
“I saw grey clouds looming in the distance,” explained Iddon.
“So I carried on in the hope that we might get a restart if the heavens opened.”
Christian would start fourteenth in Race 2, and elected for the hard tyre with what the team had learnt during the previous race.
Iddon climbed his way up the order, taking no less than six places on the opening lap, and finishing a shortened ‘red flagged’ race in sixth place.
“It’s a shame the race didn’t run the distance, I don’t know if I’d have been able to catch the group ahead and grab a few more places. Sixth from fourteenth isn’t a bad result though, and keeps me in the [Championship] hunt.”
Iddon now sits fifth in the overall Championship standings, while the Series now moves on to Thruxton, in Hampshire, on the 22-24th July.
“I need to say a big thank you to Norwich Hospital for being very accommodating, mega job, and also to the BSB medical and physio team, and also to my team who went above and beyond to adapt my clutch and gloves,” added Iddon.
“Loved the new Superpole format, I think it’s great, and loved the new victory lane idea, getting the fans closer, BSB has always been good at that.”