The Englishman produced a solid sixth place finish in the first race of the weekend at his team’s home round and felt he could have got more if it was not for an undiagnosed temporary technical fault with his MV Agusta 1000 F4.

He stated, “We’ve got to be happy to be honest because I felt strong in the race and I managed to pass quite a few people. I got onto the back of (Jordi) Torres and our pace was exactly the same, I had nothing really for him. I caught (Davide) Giugliano up and then was in fifth place. My plan was just to hunt down Torres, but then I don’t know what happened.”

“As I exited the top chicane the bike just cut out on me and it felt like it was running on two or three cylinders. So I pulled off because I thought something was broken, I started rolling down the hill, but then it felt ok again. I sort of continued, being a bit cautious on the first lap, but then it was fine again. I think it was an electronics thing, something had come lose. For it to cut out and then carry on like normal, it’s a bit weird. It’s a little bit frustrating because I think it could have been a fifth or potential fourth.”