Qualifying at the revised Silverstone circuit for the UK round of World Superbikes last week was held in overcast but dry conditions and my Aprilia RSV4 seemed to like the circuit.

In the first 15-minute Superpole session, it felt comfortable and I finished eighth but the second Superpole of 12 minutes saw me get no higher than 16th for the race proper after the stewards deemed I placed my rear wheel outside the regulation track at turn eight, so my fastest lap was deleted.

With the lights going out for the first 18-lapper on Sunday, I was determined to make up as many places as possible. By the end of lap one I’d passed four riders getting up to 12th. Two laps later, I was up to 10th with Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) in front of me. After another lap I was up to ninth and next in line was Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati). Biding my time, Byrne was despatched one lap later.

Up front, the lead was constantly changing between Jonathan Rea (Hanspree Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha). Meanwhile, with seven laps remaining, I passed James Toseland (Sterilgarda Yamaha) but he was having none of it and re-took me a couple of corners later.

I managed to re-take Toseland later in the same lap and ahead now was my team-mate Max Biaggi.

With five laps to go I got past him at Stowe Corner but he came past me on the next lap. When the flag finally dropped for race one, I crossed the line in sixth, having made up 10 positions. Crutchlow, meanwhile, took his first win over Jonathan Rea.

Race two saw me make up six places on the first lap. For the next couple of laps I was able to overtake another two riders and with nine laps to go I was slip streaming Biaggi and managed to pass him, this left Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki) in third. Waiting patiently, I slipped past him on lap nine and started to open a gap over the guys behind me.

Unfortunately, with the front two riders almost six seconds ahead of me, the gap was too much to close down. But crossing the line in third at my home race in front of a partisan crowd was awesome – my third rostrum of the season.

Having never won a race so far this season, Crutchlow made it a double, taking the win from Rea.

Race results: Race 1: 1 C Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha), 2 J Rea (Hanspree Honda), 3: Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki).

Race 2: 1 Crutchlow, 2 Rea, 3 L Camier (Alitalia Aprilia RSV4).