BURNHAM'S Danny Buchan produced two wins from three starts in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship, at Donington Park.

The Morello Racing ace qualified his Kawasaki ZX-10R in fifth place in the opening race on Saturday.

This was an 18-lap 50-mile race, followed by a ten-minute interval for tyre changes and refuelling, and then another identical 18-lap race.

The first encounter saw rain fall during the race and a fluctuation in positions.

However, as the track dried, Buchan came to the fore and ran out a commanding winner by over 20 seconds.

The second race was a lot closer and he was locked in a race-long battle with Richard Cooper and pole setter Michael Rutter.

The leading places continually alternated between Buchan and Cooper but he again came out on top, albeit by the lot closer margin of just 0.046 seconds.

It looked like he would complete his hat-trick in Sunday’s race, which was shortened from 16 laps to 12.

Buchan grabbed the lead on the fifth lap.

However, Cooper and Ian Hutchinson were right in his wheel tracks and on the 12th and final lap, Buchan ran slightly wide at the Melbourne Loop which allowed Cooper to squeeze by, demoting him to second place.

Nevertheless, with two wins and a second, plus five bonus points, he’s taken an early lead in the title race.

Buchan said: “Obviously, it would have been nice to have won all three races and taken a hat-trick but Donington’s my bogey circuit so I’m chuffed to bits to come away with two firsts and a second.

"It’s never easy leading from the front and I just ran ever so wide at the Melbourne Loop, which allowed Coops to edge by.

"The new Kawasaki is working mega so it’s great to have started the season so strongly.

"I’ll keep building and hopefully we’ll be there at the end of the season.”

Team owner Steve Buckenham added: "It's been a fantastic start to the season and all three riders have done a great job.

"Danny's the consummate professional and while he's been in the position before, he's still gone out there and done the job he set out to do.

"I think it's going to be nip-and-tuck all year long with Cooper, Rutter and Hutchinson and hopefully Fraser can get in the mix too."

Round two of the series takes place at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend.