Spaniard Xavi Fores has revealed that he’s smiling again after racking up three Bennetts British Superbike podiums, despite wheel spin woes that he admits limited his pace.

And Honda Racing’s leading man believes this weekend’s round, where he bagged three podiums on the trot, could be a turning point for his season.

Fores led both of today’s races before being deposed by winner Scott Redding as the Fireblade pilot fell into a three-way battle with Tarran Mackenzie and double third-place man Tommy Bridewell.

And while he feels the factory Honda squad made significant progress this weekend, he knows he now needs to keep the momentum going.

“I expect some tough fights this weekend because I didn’t feel quite good on the bike when we arrive here,” Fores revealed. “We worked really hard on the bike to have the setup that permits me to be fast and constant on my laps. Especially in this last race I felt a little bit worse, especially on the apex.

“I had so much spin and I was trying to manage that situation with throttle, trying to be more smooth.

“I did some laps with Tarran fighting for second place and Scott was going. When I overtake him for the last time I was pushing so hard in order to get some gap, but it was not enough to catch Scott because he was so fast and no mistakes from him.”

Fores is looking up as the series heads to Brands Hatch and believes his points haul from Donington, which puts him fifth in the title chase, is more like a victory.

“This race in second position feels like more than a win for me with all the job we did inside the box. After the results at Oulton Park I didn’t expect three podiums in a row.

“We did a really good job during the whole weekend and fighting with the Ducatis and Yamahas shows we have good potential.