LOUTH'S Peter Hickman was left with a feeling of déjà vu as his bad luck continued at the MCE Insurance British Superbike season finale at Brands Hatch.
Hickman travelled to Kent in good spirits after working with his Buildbase BMW team to improve his starts, which both he and team-mate Barry Burrell had struggled with in the last three rounds.
But, while Burrell went on to record a career-best fourth in race two, Hickman's weekend went in the opposite direction after a crashing out the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon.
Yesterday brought no better luck and he spent much of the first race stuck behind slower bikes before crossing the line in tenth. In the final race of the season, he was seventh.
While the 25-year-old would be forgiven for thinking the BSB gods were against him, Hickman was determined to retain a sense of perspective about his 2012 season.
"We made a bit of a modification after Silverstone and the start was a lot better so that wasn't really a problem at all," said Hickman – who finished 17th overall with 65 points.
"The problem was the crash on Saturday put me further back on the grid than I should have been. Barry was on the front row and I think I could have been up there with him had things gone a little better but it wasn't to be.
"I'm delighted for Barry, but gutted he couldn't get on the podium. I was hoping he would have done it, but it's still the best result of his career, so well done to him.
"It shows you where I could have been as well if things hadn't gone badly, but that's how it goes. It's been a season of frustration but it could have gone a lot worse I suppose so I'm not going to get too disheartened by it all, it's just not gone my way."
Hickman's team had been threatening to post a strong result all season and he admits it all came together too late for him to make a real impact on a race day.
"It's frustrating because we've been working on this for a while and I guess we've just run out of races as it was coming together," he added.
"I had nothing to lose at Brands and I gave it my all. I wasn't too disappointed with my results in races two and three, but I'm not kidding myself, it could have been a lot better".
