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It was a bittersweet return to racing for Louth racer Peter Hickman in the opening round of the 2023 British Superbike Championship at Silverstone over the Easter weekend when he finished 11th in race one, and 12th in race three but was forced to retire after just two laps in race two, writes Helen Pask.

Hickman completed his qualifying in 11th place and started the first race from the middle of the fourth row.

As the lights went out he worked his way forward to ninth position on lap nine of 22 and was in a close group of riders just behind the leaders.

But when he realised the rider ahead of him was dropping fluid on the track Hickman dropped back to avoid crashing on the fluid.

Peter Hickman in action at Silverstone. Photo by Dave Yeomans.

Down in 14th place on lap 10 with a lot of work to do to get back up the field he made it up to 12th on lap 16 and then passed Ryan Vickers on lap 20 to take 11th place, remaining in that position to the flag.

Hickman said: “The short layout hasn't been a great track for me over the years and it still isn’t.

“If it hadn’t been for the bike in front of me dropping fluid I could have gone with the front group. But I rolled back to 14th as I really though I may crash.

“After a couple of laps to sort my head out I came back through the pack to 11th.

“I had the pace to be in the top eight so I am more than content; 11th isn’t the end of the world so I am happy enough.”

In morning warm-up on Sunday Hickman soon realised the bike didn’t feel right and he crashed unhurt into the gravel trap.

The bike wasn't so lucky and the team had to virtually rebuild it prior to the race.

On the warm-up lap he pulled into pit lane with an issue. Although he was able to get back out, he had to start the race from pit lane and completed a couple of laps before returning to the pits to retire with the reoccurring problem. The team worked hard to get the bike ready for the final race but Hickman had to start from the back of the grid in 24th position.

He realised it would be difficult to get on terms with the leaders, but he got a good start and made up eight places on the first lap.

Hickman continued to move forward posting times comparable to the leaders and was up into 12th place on lap seven of 30, crossed the line having made up 12 places over the course of the race.

Mixed return for Louth race ace Peter Hickman in British Superbike Championship opener at Silverstone