Oulton Park British Superbikes: Christian Iddon swaps supermoto for superstock

Christian Iddon proved that it wasn’t just Sam Warren in the Henderson Yamaha R1 Cup who can make the transition from supermoto to road racing with one of four guest appearances this weekend with SMT Racing in the Superstock 600 championship.

Iddon, a multiple British Supermoto champion and factory Aprilia World Supermoto rider, qualified third on the grid in only his third ever road race and finished the race in fifth.

“I think supermoto riders are hugely understated,” Christian Iddon told MCN.

“The first time I rode the bike was on Saturday but I’ve had no problem adapting to it.

“You have to be a lot smoother compared to riding supermoto. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m trying or not because I look so smooth, so that must be a good thing.

“In my first session I was trying to brake too late into corners like I do in supermoto races, but this is all about keeping your momentum going.

“So I’ve been braking earlier and then releasing the brake earlier and carrying loads of corner speed. I qualified third on the grid but through the first two speed traps I was 47th out of 53.

“But I haven’t ridden this type of bike very much so I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a good bike and a bad bike yet.”

Iddon is set to appear in the Superstock 600 races at Snetterton, Knockhill and Croft and a possibility of a couple of other races.