DAO Racing and rider Dean Harrison made more steps forward at the seventh round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.

Arriving in Lincolnshire with the realistic goal of three top 20s, the squad was looking to build upon progress made at Thruxton a fortnight earlier.

Qualifying 19^th for Sunday’s race, Harrison got a bit beaten up in the early laps but managed to end the race 16th, just missing out on a points finish.

His lap time was only enough to give him an eighth row grid position for Monday’s opening race, but armed with a fresh strategy from the team he was able to run much better lap times and get away with a faster group, eventually crossing the line 18^th.

Starting the final race in 20^th position, he once again battled on and showed further improvements as he rode to another 18^th place finish.

“It hasn’t been too bad a weekend, I was a bit frustrated in that first one if I’m honest, it could’ve been better but it did give us something to improve on,” he said.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy round – Cadwell Park never is – but I’m happy with how I improved over the weekend if not a bit disappointed we didn’t get the results we wanted.

“The team has been working really hard and it’s starting to show. My lap times have improved and I just wish I could’ve got a bit further up but we’ll keep working and pushing on.”

Team Manager Jonny Bagnall added: “It wasn’t an awful weekend, it wasn’t a great weekend – it was just a weekend.

“No, in all seriousness, it was one of ups and downs. We were all a bit disappointed with race one so sat down, worked out a new strategy for race two and he stuck to it; it got us away with the right people and it was certainly better.

“We came here realistically looking at top 20s which isn’t what we want and yes, it is a bit frustrating because we’re at a point where we are making big steps forward but the results just don’t really show the improvements.

“The lap times are coming down and we’re getting closer – and there is still more potential to come. We just need to keep chipping away as we head to Snetterton and see if we can’t unlock the next level there.”