BURNHAM’S Danny Buchan encountered mixed fortunes in the British Superbike opener at Silverstone.

Riding a Ducati Panigale R for the Lloyds British Moto Rapido team, the 22-year-old overcame some technical issues to finish seventh in the weekend’s opening race, but he was forced to retire from the second.

An exhaust problem cut Friday practice short and wet weather caught Buchan out when he did get out as he crashed out and could only manage the 12th-fastest time.

His limited time in practice made getting a good set-up tough and qualifying saw the Burnham racer only on the fourth row of the grid for race one.

He managed to gain a few places when the race started and by the end of lap one was in seventh position.

Buchan trade places with rivals throughout the race but he eventually crossed the line holding on to that seventh spot.

Race two saw Buchan start in sixth position and he held that position for several laps until his Moto Rapido Ducati developed another exhaust problem and the engine began to lose power.

This gradually dropped him down through the field and forced his premature retirement on lap seven.

“Technical problems in practice lost us a lot of time so we were on the back-foot going into qualifying,” said Buchan.

“We managed to get into Q2 but could get no further. I enjoyed race one; it was a great result, but had the tyre lasted a bit longer I think we could have finished a little higher than P7.

“I was happy with pace and the bike and the team worked mega all weekend “In race two, we had a small problem with the engine which lost power and forced us to pull in and retire. Just a shame as I got up to fifth and felt very happy.

“I can’t now wait for round two at Oulton Park, as that’s one of my favourite tracks.”