MOTORCYCLING: Hickman picks up eight BSB points despite two crashes at Snetterton

He did, however, secure an eighth place finish in the second race on Sunday in round five of the MCE British Superbike championship, to claim a further eight championship points towards his quest for a shootout position towards the end of the season.

Hicky, who lives near Cadwell Park, made it through the first two qualifying sessions with ease, recording third in the first one and eighth in the second. Because of poor weather conditions in the previous rounds, the new Superpole was unable to be implemented but it was fine and dry at Snetterton and the riders were able to take to the track in the final session to do one flying lap alone on the track.

Hicky was apprehensive as he had never done this before but he sailed through, posting a lap of 1min 49.386sec which put him on to the second row for the start of race one on Sunday.

Hicky said: “That was my first ever time doing a one lap Superpole qualifying and I really enjoyed it. I equalled my best lap, and I did make a little bit of a mistake on the back straight which might have cost me a tenth.”

As the first race began, Hicky took up sixth position and was poised to move further ahead on lap four but the rider ahead faltered and Hicky highsided as he tried to avoid the crash. He was taken to the medical centre for a check-up but was pronounced fit to take part in the second race later in the day.

Starting race two from the second row, Hicky did not get the best of starts and was running in seventh place until he overtook Luke Mossey on lap four. He then became embroiled in a battle for position with Glenn Irwin who finally made his move stick on lap eight, relegating Hicky back to seventh.

He fell back into the clutches of Christian Iddon and remained circulating in eighth place until lap 13 when the red flag came out to halt the race because of oil on the track. Unfortunately, Hicky had crashed on the oil before he had a chance to stop but luckily as it was after the red flag his result stood and he was able to claim the eight championship points.

Having had two crashes through no fault of his own, Hicky said: “The weekend was shaping up really well and we were consistently running top five pace, and I honestly think we could have been challenging for the podium.

“Thruxton is one of my favourite circuits though, and the bike is working great so I’m looking forward to getting there and making amends.”

Hicky dropped to ninth in the overall standings on 82 points but it’s very close and a couple of good results at Thruxton this weekend could easily see him move up into the top six.